UMBC

Jessie Folk hit .417 with 11 kills and one error on Thursday night.

Orono, Maine – The UMBC women’s volleyball team (10-16, 3-6 AE) dropped their fifth consecutive match on Thursday night  to the Maine Black Bears (9-11, 6-3 AE) at Memorial Gymnasium by a final count of 3-1 (30-16, 25-30, 30-25, 30-19).  Each team split the first two sets before the Black Bears emerged with sets three and four for the win. 

In the first set Maine tallied five team blocks and five service aces, three by Jody Connacher.  UMBC was held to seven kills and a .021 hitting percentage in the first set.

The Retrievers, however, responded in the second set behind four service aces and four kills by Sarah Ball.  UMBC hit .226 in the second set with 10 kills. 

The turning point in the match came in set three with UMBC leading 11-8.  The Black Bears forced a five-point swing, taking a 13-11 lead and never relinquishing that the rest of the set.  Neither team could hold serve as the match stayed one to two points apart until 24-22, as the Black Bears held serve and took a 25-22 lead.  Maine went on for a 30-25 victory in set three and cruised in the final set, taking an 8-1 lead and finishing the match with a 30-19 set four victory. 

Ball tallied a team-high 14 kills while Jessie Folk hit .417, tallying 11 kills and one error on 24 attacks.  Jennifer Wylie finished with 27 digs and Megan Gross handed out 30 assists.

Leah Guidinger recorded a match-high 3 kills with a .500 hitting percentage to lead the Black Bears.  Four players for Maine hit double-digits as Shelly Seipp led the offense with 55 helpers.  Connacher tallied 27 digs for the Black Bears as well.

UMBC returns to action at Stony Brook on Sunday at 1 p.m.