UMBC

Sophomore Kira Giles tallied her fourth double-double of the season and led the team with 22 digs in the win over Towson.

TOWSON, Md.—The UMBC women’s volleyball team improved their winning streak to five matches and won for the first time in seven years as they downed Towson, 3-2, in their first match of the Towson Tournament on Friday night at the Towson Center.

The Retrievers (9-1) last defeated the Tigers (3-8) in 2001 and notched their 30^th career victory in the all-time series since first playing the Tigers in 1973.

Sophomore Kira Giles (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) recorded her fourth double-double of the season, and came just three blocks away from a triple double as she led the Retrievers with 47 assists, a team-leading 22 digs, and seven block assists.

Freshman Bianca Sande (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif./Torrey Pines) also recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs, in addition to two assisted blocks.

The Tigers had three players with double-doubles and Maddie Haseltine led the team with 16 kills and 19 digs, while adding five assisted blocks.

Both teams struggled with attack errors, as neither team recorded a hitting percentage higher than .200 until the Retrievers posted a .227 in the fifth and final set.

The Retrievers pulled out the 30-28 and 30-24 set victories in games one and two, but fell to the Tigers in the next two games as they sent the sets to extra-point decisions of 31-29 and 34-32.

The match remained close in the fifth set, but the Retrievers earned the set and match win, 15-13, thanks in part to the dismal .086 hitting percentage that the Tigers recorded.

The Retrievers continue competition at the Towson Tournament on Saturday as they take on No. 21 Dayton at 12:30 p.m. and Western Kentucky at 3:00 p.m.