UMBC Volleyball Team Drops Heartbreaker at Stony Brook, 3-2
STONY BROOK, N.Y.—The UMBC volleyball suffered a heartbreaking 16-25, 25-17, 20-25, 27-25, 15-13 loss at Stony Brook Sunday at Pritchard Gymnasium. Despite the loss, the Retrievers (10-15, 6-4 America East) qualified for the America East Championships for the third consecutive year with New Hampshire’s 3-1 loss to Binghamton. The Seawolves improved to 11-15 and 6-4 in conference play.
The Retrievers were led by junior Iman Kennedy (Charlotte, N.C./Independence) who hit an .345 with 14 kills. Fellow junior Allie Spaay (Kenosha, Wis./Kenosha Tremper) had a game-high 49 assists to go along with a team-high 21 digs. Spaay now has 1,155 assists, moving her into ninth all-time at UMBC.
Senior Sabrina Hoeks (Olympia, Wash./AG West Black Hills) led the team with 19 kills and also added 10 digs, while sophomore Ali Loynachan (Whitby, Ontario, Canada/Sinclair) posted nine kills and 20 digs.
In the first set, UMBC played great defense, holding Stony Brook to a -0.167 hitting percentage on their way to a 25-16 win. In the second, the Retrievers hit .243, but the Seawolves hit .394 to win 25-17.
Down 19-15 in the third, UMBC stormed back with a 10-1 run to win the set, 25-20. Kennedy had four kills and Spaay added seven assists during the comeback.
In the fourth, the Retrievers staved off two set points before the Seawolves finished with a kill and a block to win 27-25. UMBC jumped out to a 13-9 lead in the fifth, but Stony Brook won the last six points to win the fifth and decisive set.
The Retrievers return home next weekend for the final two matches of the regular season. UMBC takes on New Hampshire Friday at 5 p.m. before facing Providence Sunday at 11 a.m.
