UMBC

Ali Goc leads UMBC with 96 digs in 2012

BALTIMORE – Coming off of a winless weekend at the Adidas/Michigan Challenge, the UMBC volleyball looks to get back to winning ways when it travels to Washington, D.C., Wednesday evening to take on George Washington.  The first ball between the Retrievers and Colonials is set for 7 p.m. at the Charles E. Smith Center.

Scouting the Retrievers

UMBC is 2-6 this season after dropping all three matches this past weekend in Michigan.  The Retrievers fell to SEC foe Arkansas on Friday before bowing to tournament host and No.-22 ranked Michigan as well as Central Michigan on Saturday.  

Despite its record, UMBC has shown signs of growth early in the season.  Freshman outside hitter Sherelle Walker (New Freedeom, Pa./Susquahnnock) has exploded onto the scene for the Retrievers, leading the squad in kills with 81 on the season after recording 23 in Michigan this past weekend .

In addition, sophomore Hannah Schmidt (Catonsville, Md./Mount de Sales) has provided consistency for the UMBC offense, notching four double-digit kill contests so far this year .  She has also picked up 11 or more digs in three of those matches to post three double-doubles on the season.

In the back row, junior Ali Goc (Oshawa, Ontario/R.S. McLaughlin) registered 39 digs this past weekend to bring her team-best total up to 96 digs in 2012.  Schmidt and senior Ali Loynachan (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) have also provided some depth in the back by recording 64 and 62 digs, respectively, on the young season.

Scouting the Colonials

After six losses to open the season, George Washington (1-6) picked up its first win of the year on Saturday against Bethune Cookman at the UniWyo Cowgirl Classic in Laramie, Wyo.  Sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Newman led the Colonials with 18 kills while senior Lauren Whyte recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs against Wildcats.

Whyte is the top hitter for GW so far, notching 77 kills over the seven matches, averaging 3.21 kills per set.  Newman is not far behind, however, having recorded 68 winners for an average of 2.96 kills per set.  Despite Whyte and Newman’s high numbers red-shirt freshman setter Jessica Lubic has spread the ball around, recording 211 assists, almost nine per set.

Senior libero Candace Silva-Martin has paced the Colonials’ backline so far, picking up 69 digs in 2012.  Freshman defensive specialist Maddy Doyle has also chipped in with 54 digs in her rookie campaign.

All-Time Series

UMBC and George Washington have met 20 times with the Colonials winning all but one match, a 3-0 sweep for the Retrievers in 2008 at the West Virginia Volleyball Classic. 

The two squads first met back on Nov. 1, 1975 with GW winning in Baltimore.  The Colonials then ran off 16 more wins before UMBC got on the board with the sweep in 2008.  George Washington has won the last two meetings though, the last one a three-set contest at the RAC in 2010.  Lauren Whyte recorded 10 kills for the visitors that day, while then-freshman Emily Vandegrift (Leesburg, Va./Loudoun County) led the Retrievers with six put-aways.

Retriever Stat Pack

Season Highs:

Double-Doubles: