UMBC

Megan Gross and the Retrievers were selected fourth in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Boston, Mass. – The UMBC Women’s Volleyball team has been selected to tie for fourth in the America East Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll, tying Stony Brook with 17 points.  Albany, last year’s conference champion, was a unanimous pick to repeat as conference champion with six first place votes.  Coaches selected the order of finish with disregard of their own team. 

The Retrievers will be under first-year head coach Ian Blanchard in 2005 and will look to make a jump in the conference standings.  UMBC, who has finished seventh in the conference standings the previous two years, finished ahead of Binghamton and Hartford in the poll.  Maine was selected to finish second with New Hampshire the preseason favorite to finish third.

The top-four teams make the America East Conference Tournament at the end of the regular season with the No. 1 seed the host school.  The winner of the conference championship advances to the NCAA Tournament with the conference’s automatic bid. 

UMBC returns five starters and 11 letterwinners from last year’s team, including senior setter Megan Gross, who averaged 10.17 apg, senior libero Christine Skala, who averaged 3.48 dpg, and sophomore hitter Emily Berman with a 3.67 kpg average. 

The Retrievers open the season on Aug. 27 as they host Villanova and Northeastern in a three-team tri-match.  The Retrievers take on Northeastern, who left the America East Conference at the end of last season to join the Colonial Athletic Association, at 10 a.m. and face Villanova at 5 p.m.  Northeastern and Villanova will play at 2:30 p.m. that day as well.