UMBC

Freshman Naomi Bush had a game-high 12 kills against Indiana State.

—The UMBC volleyball team split a pair of matches Friday at the Long Beach State/UC Irvine Invitational, defeating Indiana State, 3-0, after falling to co-host Long Beach State, 3-0.

The Retrievers hit an outstanding .350 in the first set with 15 kills against only one error, getting them off to a good start in the 25-13, 25-17, 25-16 win. For the match, UMBC hit .293, led the Sycamores in kills 43-25 and had twice as many blocks, 8-4.

“We were emotionally fired up for the match against Long Beach State,” head coach Ian Blanchard said. “It would have been easy to have a let down, but we had great energy and really focused on our game plan.”

Freshman outside hitter Naomi Bush (Fruitport, Mich./Fruitport) led the Retrievers with a game-high 12 kills, while senior outside hitter Ashley Oscars (Bakersfield, Calif./Liberty) notched her second double-double of the season with 10 kills and a team-high 12 digs.

“Our outsides kept Indiana State off-balance all match long,” the coach said.

UMBC’s middle blockers also had a great game, with sophomore Iman Kennedy (Charlotte, N.C./Independence) hitting .412 with nine kills and six total blocks. Junior Sabrina Hoeks (Olympia, Wash./AG West Black Hills) added five kills and two block assists, but Blanchard said she was the unsung hero of the match.

“Sabrina had a ton of touches in the middle today,” the coach said. “She slowed down their offense and gave us an opportunity to run a more effective attack.”

Against Long Beach State, the Retrievers were at nearly a four-inch height disadvantage across the entire front row, but out blocked the 49ers 7.5-5. Bush led the team with 10 kills and hit .300 on 20 swings, while Jarrett had seven digs. It was not enough, as Long Beach State won 25-20, 25-20 and 25-21.

“I thought we played very well for being at such a disadvantage in physicality,” Blanchard said. “We weren’t intimidated by playing a five-time national champion, we played aggressively and playing a team of this caliber will help us the rest of the season.”

Blanchard was also pleased with how the trip out to the West Coast is playing out.

“We have some kids from California and it was important that they had a chance to play in front of their families, play against some of the people they grew up playing with and play against some high level opponents,” the coach said.  

Long Beach State hit .357 in each of the first two sets. In the second set, the 49ers had a 13-3 lead, but the Retrievers fought back before falling 25-20. In the last set, UMBC had a lead of 16-15 before Long Beach State 10 of the last 15 points.

During the course of the day, three seniors moved up UMBC’s all-time top-10 lists. Oscars moved into sixth all-time in UMBC history with 1,080 career kills, senior  Pam Jarrett (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln Pius X) moved up to ninth in school history with 935 career digs and senior Kira Giles (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada/Glenlawn) is now seventh in career assisted blocks with 158.

The Retrievers return to action tomorrow when they face co-host #22 UC Irvine at 8 p.m.