UMBC

Hannah Schmidt notched her team-leading seventh double-double of the season at Albany

ALBANY, NY – Sophomore Hannah Schmidt (Catonsville, Md./Mount de Sales) compiled her team leading seventh double-double of the season, but it was not enough as the Retrievers dropped a four-set contest (25-19, 18-25, 25-20, 25-15) Sunday to defending America East champion Albany at University Gymnasium. Schmidt’s 13 kills and 10 digs were her third double-double in four matches.

UMBC (9-13, 2-3 AE) jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the first set, but Albany (7-11, 4-0 AE) rallied to take a 9-7 lead on a kill by Samantha Brostrom. Senior Ali Loynachan (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) answered with a kill of her own to bring the Black and Gold within one at 9-8, but that would be the closest the Retrievers would get.

The second set began with the teams trading points, until senior Katie Kelly (Diamond Bar, Calif./Diamond Bar) buried a kill that started a 4-0 rally, and the Retrievers would build their lead to as much as 10 on two occasions en route to the set victory. Freshman Krystal Mlemchukwu (Baltimore, Md./Western Tech) sparked UMBC as she recorded five of her team-high 18 kills in that second set. 

The third set was similar to the second as both teams traded points, leading to a 5-5 tie early on, but  junior Mallory McIntyre (Winnepeg, Manitoba/St. Mary’s Academy) got two aces to give UMBC an 8-5 lead. Albany would call time-out and eventually would go on a 4-0 run to take an 13-11 advantage, a lead the Great Danes would not relinquish.  

Albany jumped all over UMBC in the fourth set, leading by as much as 11 when a Traci Vandegrift kill extended the Great Dane lead to 20-9. McIntyre had 10 of her match-leading 50 assists for UMBC in the final set.

The Retrievers get a week off before hosting Stony Brook at the RAC Arena next Sunday at 2 p.m.