LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell volleyball team (4-20, 2-8 AE) grinded its way to its second conference win with a five-set thriller against UMBC (6-17, 2-7 AE) on Friday evening at Costello Athletic Center. The set scores were 14-25, 28-26, 25-22, 21-25 and 15-13.
"The team fought really hard," said head coach
Resa Provanzano. "They came into the match, first set, a little tentative, and then found our groove. I was happy to see the energy they were playing with."
Four different River Hawks had double-digit kills, led by
Madi Bell (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) with 16 and
Katherine Claybaugh (Alamo, Calif.),
Kate Bilyeu (Omaha, Neb.) and
Lade Adeniyi (Springfield, Ill.) all with 12.
McKenna Bova (Corona, Calif.) had her hand in the majority of the River Hawks' attacks with 39 assists, while she also added 12 digs.
The Retrievers took the first set, notching just two attacking errors, but the River Hawks responded in the second set, tallying 16 kills to UMBC's 11. UMass Lowell kept the momentum rolling into the third set, where Bell had four kills and a .364 hitting percentage. The River Hawks also managed 11 blocks in the set, thanks to Bell and
Grace Burkett (Lakeside, Calif.).
UMBC evened things up in a tight fourth set, although the River Hawks held a 16-8 edge in kills.
The fifth set was a back-and-forth contest, with five different River Hawks earning kills in the 15-13 decision. UMass Lowell jumped out to a 4-1 lead, forcing UMBC to take a timeout. The Retrievers came storming back to take a 12-10 lead, but clutch kills by Claybaugh and Burkett eventually put the game away for the River Hawks.
Senior libero
Lindsey Visvardis (Homer Glen, Ill.) amassed a match-high 24 digs in the victory for the River Hawks in another strong game on defense. Freshman defensive specialist
Aleyna Kennel (Monument, Colo.) finished the night with 11 digs.
UMass Lowell totaled a season-high 27 blocks in the match and notched at least 60 kills for the third time this season.
Paige Krenik and Carmen Freeman each totaled 13 kills in the losing effort for the Retrievers.
Up next, the River Hawks will honor their seniors on Sunday, November 4 against Binghamton in their penultimate game of the season.
