The UNH volleyball team (11-5, 1-1) had an up and down weekend road trip after losing 3-0 to UAlbany (6-9, 2-0) on Friday and defeating UMBC (3-12, 0-1) on Sunday.
Friday’s bid saw the Wildcats give up multiple big runs making for a fairly quick game. UAlbany won the first set 25-16, pulling away from the Wildcats with a 6-0 run starting when the game was tied at 13. That extended their lead to 19-13, and then the Great Danes finished off UNH with a 5-1 run ending the first set.
The second set was closer, although the Great Danes broke out of the gate with a 7-2 advantage. The ‘Cats brought the game within three points only to give up a four-point UAlbany run which made the score 16-9.
UNH closed the gap to three points, and the two teams went back and forth until the Great Danes led 24-22. UAlbany called a timeout before UNH’s serve and won the next point to win the second set.
The third and final set went to the Great Danes as they won 25-19 after a convincing effort. UNH brought the game to 15-14, but ultimately could not close out the set as UAlbany took the match.
Sunday’s game got off to a weirder start, as a campus power outage struck UMBC twenty minutes prior to the match. Luckily the backup generator at the UMBC Event Center supplied sufficient lighting for the match to proceed.
UNH won the first set 25-16, as they closed the set out on a 5-0 run. UMBC took the second set 25-19 after riding the momentum of a 7-1 advantage in the opening stages of the set.
The third set went to UNH with a score of 25-22. UNH trailed 21-19, then went on a four-point run to put themselves ahead 23-21. UMBC won the next point, then sophomore middle blocker Abby Sullivan recorded back-to-back kills to win the set.
The Retrievers won the fourth set 25-20, pulling away for good with a five-point run when the game was 14-12.
UNH won the fifth set 15-13, after the game was tied at 10-all, 12-all and 13-all.
Both sophomore setter Emma Patlovich and first-year setter Wren Macaulay recorded 24 assists apiece, with Patlovich tallying on 11 digs for a double-double. Senior outside hitter Kennedi Smith also recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs.
UNH continues play as Binghamton (0-15, 0-2) visits Durham on Friday, October 11 at 7:00 p.m. in Lundholm Gymnasium.
