UMBC

Emily Witsaman leads UMBC with 30 blocks this season

BALTIMORE – The UMBC women’s volleyball team opens its 2012 home schedule with the Fourth Annual Maddie Bingaman Memorial Tournament this weekend at the RAC Arena.  The Retrievers will take on Robert Morris and Colorado on Friday at 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m., respectively, before hosting James Madison and Howard on Saturday.

Live stats for all nine of the tournament matches will be available on umbcretrievers.com while eight of the nine contests will be shown on a live stream on umbcretrievers.tv. 

Scouting the Retrievers

UMBC (2-7) comes into the weekend on a six-match losing streak following a heartbreaking five-set loss at George Washington on Wednesday evening in Washington, D.C.  The Retrievers rallied from down a set twice to knot the match, but could not hold off the Colonials who won the fifth set, 15-9.

Freshman outside hitter Sherelle Walker (New Freedom, Pa./Susquehannock) once again led the UMBC offense, totaling 13 kills for her fifth contest in double-digits.  She leads the squad with 94 kills with sophomore Hannah Schmidt (Catonsville, Md./Mount de Sales) just behind with 82 winners.

Schmidt was a key for the Retrievers as well on Wednesday, registering a season-high 16 digs, while senior Ali Loynachan (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair) and junior Ali Goc (Oshawa, Ontario/R.S. McLaughlin) matched her total.  Goc leads UMBC with 112 digs this season, averaging 3.50 digs per set.

Filling into the void left at setter by Allie Spaay’s graduation, freshman Paige Miller (Reading, Pa./Schuylkill Valley) has stepped in nicely, leading the Retrievers with 217 assists for an 8.04 average per set.  Against George Washington, Miller recorded 37 helpers to go along with a career-high 15 digs.

On the Colonials: Robert Morris is 2-5 this season after falling to Youngstown State on the road on Tuesday night, snapping the team’s two-match winning streak.  Sophomore opposite hitter Sydney Sizemore led the Colonials’ offense with eight kills while senior libero Andrea Catucci and sophomore outside hitter Erica Robb each dug eight balls.

Senior outside hitter Lindsey Monger paces the Robert Morris offense and has recorded 73 kills in 2012 while also picking up a team-best 77 digs.  Meanwhile sophomore middle blocker Becky Jay has notched a Colonial-best 21 total blocks this season.

All-Time Series vs. Robert Morris: UMBC trails Robert Morris, 6-5, in the all-time series which dates back to 1988.  The former NEC rivals have not met since 2002 when the Colonials defeated the host Retrievers 3-1 for their fourth straight win in the series, but first win in Baltimore.

On the Buffaloes: Colorado is 4-2 in 2012 despite falling to Fresno State at home in three sets to conclude the Omni Hotels Colorado Volleyball Classic last Saturday.  Earlier in the tournament the Buffs defeated Cornell in straight sets before losing to Northern Arizona, 3-1.

Freshman Alexis Austin leads the balanced Colorado attack with 61 kills in the team’s first six matches.  Junior middle blocker Nikki Lindow and sophomore right-side Kelsey English have also been an asset for the Buffs, combining for 100 kills so far this season.  Lindow has also been a force at the net, blocking a total of 33 balls.

All-Time Series vs. Colorado: UMBC and Colorado have never met on the volleyball court.  The Retrievers are 0-3 all-time against Pac-12 opponents, however, with an 0-2 record vs. Washington and an 0-1 record vs. USC, losing to the Trojans in First Round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament.

On the Dukes: James Madison has lost its last five contests after winning its season-opener, dropping the Dukes to 1-5 on the season.  Most recently JMU traveled to California for the Long Beach State/Mizuno Invitational where the team was swept by the host 49ers, Wisconsin and Cal St.- Northridge.

Senior outside hitter Danielle Erb has a team-best 63 kills for the Dukes while sophomore middle blocker Lizzy Briones and senior outside Natalie Abel have also been effective with 53 and 52 kills, respectively.  Senior setter Megan Wiechman has totaled 180 assists for an average of 9.00 assists per set so far.

On defense, junior defensive specialist Katie Daorai leads the squad with 64 digs with freshman Meghan Niski just behind her with 59 digs.

All-Time Series vs. James Madison: The Retrievers a 4-7 all-time against the Dukes dating back to 1979.  UMBC won the first ever meeting, a 2-0 home win on Sept. 22, 1979, and the last meeting, a four-setter in 2009 in Harrisonburg, Va.  James Madison holds the longest winning streak in the series, a five-match stretch that lasted from 1998 through 2008.

On the Bison: Howard is 0-4 this season after dropping all three contests at the Pittsburgh Panther Invitational last weekend.  The Bison also lost their season-opener in straight sets at Rider.

Sophomores Assata Conway and Meagan Lagerlef currently lead the squad with 18 kills apiece, the only Bison in double-figures.  On the back row, classmate Alexis Skinner has a team-best 41 digs while junior Jasmine Tipton is second on the squad with 30 digs.

All-Time Series vs. Howard:  UMBC is 19-3 all-time against Howard and has won the last eight meeting between the two schools.  The Retrievers and Bison last met two years ago at this same tournament with the Black and Gold coming away with a three-set victory.  Ali Goc, then a freshman, notched 10 kills while classmate Rebecca Garrigues (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) led the Retrievers with 21 assists.

Maddie Bingaman Memorial Tournament Schedule

Friday, Sept. 7, 2012

UMBC vs. Robert Morris – 10:30 a.m.

Howard vs. James Madison – 2:00 p.m.

Howard vs. Robert Morris – 4:30 p.m.

UMBC vs. Colorado – 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 8, 2012

Howard vs. Colorado – 8:00 a.m.

UMBC vs. James Madison – 10:30 a.m.

Colorado vs. Robert Morris – 2:00 p.m.

UMBC vs. Howard – 4:30 p.m.

James Madison vs. Robert Morris – 7:00 p.m.

Retriever Stat Pack

Season Highs:

Double-Doubles: