UMBC

Sophomore Ashley Oscars led the Retrievers with 20 kills and nine digs against Albany on Sunday.

ALBANY, N.Y.--The UMBC volleyball team dropped their fifth-straight, as they were edged by defending America East champion Albany, 3-2 (35-33, 30-26, 18-30, 10-30, 12-15), on Sunday at University Gymnasium. With the loss, the Retrievers (19-10, 4-6 America East) are eliminated from America East Tournament contention, while the Great Danes (18-8, 7-3 America East) cement a spot in the four-team tournament and are currently tied for the second seed with New Hampshire.

Sophomore Ashley Oscars (Bakersfield, Calif./Liberty) led the Retrievers in the loss, tallying 20 kills on 54 attacks for a .204 hitting percentage, nine digs, and two assisted blocks. Two other Retrievers also tallied double-digit kills, as sophomore Tiffany Johnson (Abingdon, Md./Arundel/Kansas State) recorded a .423 hitting percentage, while totaling 12 kills on 26 attacks and just one error and adding one solo and five assisted blocks, and freshman Bridget Scheetz (St. Louis, Mo./Ursuline Academy) recorded 12 kills on 24 attacks, with three errors for a .375 efficiency while tallying three assisted blocks.

Two Great Danes tallied double-doubles in the match as Amanda Cowdrey led Albany with 22 kills and 18 digs, and Kate Eckhardt added 11 kills and 24 digs.

In what was almost an exact replica of the 2006 America East Championship match, the Retrievers jumped to an early two set lead over the Great Danes, but dropped the next three games as Albanly earned the five-set win.

Game one set the tone of the match, with a competition that saw 13 ties and seven lead changes and was forced to extra points as the Retrievers pulled out the 35-33 set win.

The Retrievers jumped to an early, 3-0, lead in game two and held that lead, until 22-18, when the Great Danes executed a 6-0 run to take the 24-22 lead. Sophomore Angela Anderson (Hermosa Beach, Calif./Bishop Montgomery), however, added a kill to put the Retrievers within one at 26-25 and then proceeded to serve out the five remaining points of the set to give the Retrievers the 30-26 victory and a 2-0 match lead.

Game three saw the Great Danes open up a 3-1 lead on the Retrievers and cement their dominance in the set with a Cowdrey kill that sparked a five-point run behind her own serve to put the Retrievers at a 20-11 disadvantage as Albany rolled to the 30-18 set win.

Cowdrey once again served for five consecutive points in the fourth game, to put the Great Danes up 7-1 and another 7-0 run not long after sealed the Retrievers' fate as Albany earned the 30-10 victory and send the match to its fifth and final set.

The Retrievers turned the tables on the Great Danes in game five, as they cruised to an early 7-1 lead, thanks to a 5-0 run sparked by senior Britney Hodson's (South Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) kill. Cowdrey came through for the Great Danes yet again, however, as her kill knotted the score at 11 points apiece, sparking a two-point serving run behind Eckhardt's serve to give Albany the 13-11 lead. A service error gave the Retrievers' the sideout, but a Great Dane kill and Retriever attack error followed to give Albany the 15-13 set and match point.

The Retrievers conclude their non-conference schedule as they play their final away match against Navy on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. in Annapolis, Md. before returning home to host Hartford on Friday, Nov. 9 and Stony Brook on Sunday, Nov. 11 in their conference finale.