Women's Volleyball

No. 1 UMBC & No. 3 UAlbany Earn #AEVB Semifinal Victories

BALTIMORE, Md. – Top seeded UMBC was pushed to the brink in a five-set win over No. 4 Binghamton while No. 3 UAlbany took care of business with a three-set victory over No. 2 Bryant in the America East Volleyball Semifinals on Friday evening in the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
 
UMBC grabbed a 1-0 lead but dropped the next two sets to the Bearcats. The Retrievers rallied to capture the final two sets, including five straight points to claim the fifth set 15-10.
 
The Great Danes secured a gutsy 29-27 victory in the opening set and then slowly wore down Bryant over the final two sets, 25-22 and 25-18, to advance to their second straight championship match.
 
UMBC and UAlbany will square off for the #AEVB Title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Volleyball Championship on Saturday at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.
 
No. 1 UMBC 3, No. 4 Binghamton 2
  • The opening set was back-and-forth with UMBC leading just 20-17. However, the Retrievers scored the final five points of the set to earn the 25-17 win.
  • Binghamton started the second set strong, going on a 9-0 run to grab a 14-5 lead. The Bearcats played even the rest of the way, securing a 25-16 victory in set two.
  • Set three was even, with multiple ties over the first 25 points. A 6-2 run by Binghamton made it 20-15 and the No. 4 Seed held off UMBC 25-22.
  • The fourth set was tied 12-12, before a 6-2 run provided Binghamton an 18-14 advantage. UMBC responded with a 10-1 run to take back the lead 24-19 and eventually win 25-22.
  • It was a tight fifth set with ties eight ties in the first 20 points. UMBC finally pulled away and capped off the win with a kill from Hannah Dobbs for the 15-10 victory.
  • Dobbs finished with 20 kills & 12 digs while Jalynn Brown came through with 22 kills as the Retrievers totaled 73 kills. Hannah Howard chipped in 27 digs.
 
 
No. 3 UAlbany 3, No. 2 Bryant 0
  • UAlbany held a slim lead in the first set before three straight kills made it 18-12. The Great Danes then led 23-18, before the Bulldogs rattled off five straight points to tie the contest 23-23.
  • The teams drew even at 24, 25 and 26, with a Bryant kill providing the 27-26 advantage. UAlbany countered with three straight points to clinch the set.
  •  Neither team could gain an advantage early in the second set. Bryant went on a 5-0 run to pull in front 18-16 and led 19-18. The Great Danes scored five straight for a 23-19 lead and eventually won 25-22.
  • Bryant jumped in front 6-2 in the third set and led until UAlbany finally tied it up at 14 apiece. After falling behind 15-14, the Great Danes tallied eight consecutive points to grab a 22-15 lead as they finished off the victory 25-18.
  • Gabriella Karman had nine kills while hitting .500 with four total blocks, with Tori Wilson hitting .421 with ten kills. Setter of the Year Maria Olga Siapani recorded a double-double of 30 assists and ten digs.
 
Stay up-to-date on the tournament by visiting Championship Central for streaming and live stats links as well as box scores, highlights and recaps following each round in addition to team information, tournament history and more.
 
Follow @AmericaEast on X (Formerly Twitter) to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEMSOC hashtags to join the conversation.

ABOUT AMERICA EAST
Founded in 1979, the America East Conference is an elite NCAA Division I athletic conference that fosters an environment for student-athletes to become champions. Comprised of academically renowned, like-minded member institutions located in the Northeast region of the United States, America East is committed to broad-based excellence and progressive in its approach to supporting its more than 3,500 student-athletes across 18 sponsored sports. For more information, visit www.AmericaEast.com and follow the America East Conference and its social media channels, @AmericaEast.
 
- America East Conference – Where Champions Rise -