DURHAM, N.H. – The top two seeds will meet in the 2013 America East Volleyball title game as the No. 1 seed New Hampshire Wildcats and No. 2 UMBC Retrievers both swept their semifinal matches on Friday at UNH’s Lundholm Gymnasium to advance to Saturday’s championship game.
UMBC defeated No. 3 Albany, 3-0, in the first semifinal, and host New Hampshire topped No. 4 Stony Brook, 3-0, in the nightcap. It will be the first championship game appearance for the Wildcats since 2003, and first for UMBC since 2010. The two teams will play for the championship on Saturday at 4 p.m. The match will be video streamed live for free on AmericaEast.TV.
In the day’s first game, junior Hannah Schmidt had a match-high 16 kills to lead UMBC to a sweep of Albany with set scores of 25-19, 25-16 and 25-16. The win improved UMBC to 3-6 in the America East tournament.
Schmidt added 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season, while America East Setter of the Year notched her 10th double-double with 33 assists and 12 digs.
Freshman Amy Hunter led the Great Danes with 16 kills, while All-Rookie performer Mikala McCauley had 24 assists and 16 digs.
UMBC played solid defense, holding Albany to a .110 hitting percentage thanks in large part to the back line play of Casey Griffith (16 digs) and Hallie Carter (10 digs). The Retrievers registered a .228 hitting percentage with 47 kills compared to 31 for Albany.
The Great Danes took an early advantage in the first set, jumping out to a 7-4 lead. Albany would lead twice more in the set (9-8 and 10-9) before a 10-3 run opened it up for the Retrievers as they claimed the first set, 25-19. Schmidt led the way with six kills on 12 swings while Krystal Mlemchukwu had five.
The Retrievers would not trail again in the match, jumping out to an early 9-7 lead in the second set and expanding the margin to 19-11. UMBC held Albany to a .053 hitting percentage, while Schmidt once again paced the offense with five more kills and McIntyre contributed 12 helpers as UMBC took the set 25-16.
Schmidt added four more kills in the third set while the Retriever defense held the Great Danes to .056 hitting. Albany’s Hunter had seven of her 16 kills in the third set. UMBC went on to take the set and the match, 25-16, earning the team’s fourth-straight win over the Great Danes.
In the night cap, No. 1 New Hampshire registered 13 total blocks to sweep No. 4 Stony Brook with set scores of 25-20, 25-23 and 25-17. It was the first win in an America East tournament game for the Wildcats since capturing the title in 2003.
The Wildcats held the Seawolves to a .042 attack percentage as Destiny Tolliver totaled eight blocks (four solo) and Madison Lightfoot collected 16 digs.
Stony Brook was led by Kaitlin Costello’s 10 kills while Melissa Rigo notched 15 digs. The Seawolves held New Hampshire to just .102 hitting but could not overcome 29 attack errors over the three sets.
With the teams tied at nine in the first set, the Wildcats scored nine of the next 11 points including a pair of aces from Taylor Dunklau that gave New Hampshire a 19-11 lead. The Seawolves closed to within three at 20-17 following an attack error, but the Wildcats closed that set on a combo block by Tolliver and Tori Forrest to win it 25-20.
New Hampshire carried the momentum into the second set, scoring the first six points before the Seawolves could get on the board. Stony Brook clawed its way back to even the set at nine on a block by Kathy Fletcher.
Neither team led by more than one point until the late stages of the set when Forrest notched a kill and Tolliver came up with a block to give the Wildcats at 23-20 edge. Costello and Stephanie McFadden each had kills for the Seawolves that brought the team as close as 24-23, but All-Rookie performer Demi Muses closed the set with a kill to put the Wildcats on top 2-0 in the match.
Stony Brook came out of the gates hot after the intermission, taking a 5-0 lead in the third set. New Hampshire fought back to even the set at nine, and eventually took a 16-15 lead the Wildcats would not relinquish.
New Hampshire’s win makes it eight-straight years the No. 1 seed has advanced to the final. The Wildcats improved to 10-8 in championship play and are looking for their fourth title.
2013 America East Volleyball Championship – Durham, N.H.
Friday, November 22
No. 2 UMBC 3, No. 3 Albany 0
No. 1 New Hampshire 3, No. 4 Stony Brook 0
Saturday, November 23
No. 1 New Hampshire vs. No. 2 UMBC – 4 p.m.