Sophomore right side hitter Ali Loynachan has the ability to be one of the top hitters in the conference this season.

The Volleyball team was recently ranked third in the conference in the preseason coaches poll, and looks to be in their best position yet to win their first ever America East Conference crown.

Reigning champion Binghamton University was picked to repeat as champions with five first place votes and 33 points while University at Albany received one first place vote and 31 points for second place. But one coach does thing UMBC has what it takes to finally threw, as their 24 points came with the help of one first place vote.

UMBC will be without several key players, including three of their top kills leaders: Alyssa Lang (234), Ashley Oscars (203), and Naomi Bush (169); assists leader: Kira Giles (633); and top four leaders in digs: Pam Jarrett (340), Lang (197), Oscars (181), Giles (171).

But that does not mean they team is without talented players. It just means new players, who may be just as if not more talented, can get their chance to step in.

With nine freshman and two sophomores and just two juniors and two seniors, the team will be young. With so much youth it will be key to seniors Sabrina Hoeks and Bianca Sande to hold things together. Hoeks is coming off her second season ending ACL tare in as many years but should still have plenty left to be a major factor on the team. She led the team with 29 aces last season (0.43 per match) and had 101 kills and was second on the team with 45 total blocks. Sande has been used sparingly in her career mostly in situations to break opponents serves, but she brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of the game.

With Oscars, Lang, and Bush all gone, it is time for sophomore Ali Loynachan to take the reigns as the team’s full time outside hitter. Last year injuries kept her out of seven matches, but she still ranked fourth on the team in kills (138, 2.12 per set) and third in blocks (40). If she stays healthy this season is would not be hard to imagine her getting well over the 200 kill mark, with the possibility of topping the 250 kill plateau.

Hoeks and Sande could both be hitting on the opposite side of Loynachan, but other options are freshmen Ali Goc and Hallie Carter. Goc is one of the many Canadian players that coach Ian Blanchard has pulled in during his tenure, and she is a very good and very established one. She was named the winner of the 2010 Evelyn Holick Award, which is Ontario’s top honor, and has won five straight Canadian Indoor Volleyball National Championship (2005-09), as well as six straight indoor Volleyball Ontatio Championships (2005-10). Carter, a native of Huntington Beach, Calif., was an All-Sunset League selection in 2009-10 and her high school’s Most Valuable Players during her senior season. Emily Vandergrift, who led Loudoun Country High School of Leesburgh, Va. to back-to-back Championships, is another option in a seemingly deep ground.

Locking down a spot in the middle will once again be Iman Kennedy, who has improved greatly in her first two seasons and should be able to improve her team high 77 blocks and 190 kills, which ranked third on the team.

Backing up Kennedy will be 6’1″ redshirt freshman Katie Kelly, 6’2″ freshman Emily Witsaman, who helped lead her club team, Cleveland Volleyball Company, to the 17-National Division of the 2009 USA Junior Olympic Girls’ Volleyball Championship, and Robbin Lee, a Maryland native who was named to the Montgomery County’s All-Star Senior Team in 2009.

Setting up everybody up front will be none other than junior Allie Spaay, who has split time and challenged Giles for a starting role in each of her first two seasons. For a second straight season Spaay finished seconds on the team in assists with 303, 6.31 per set. She also played solid defense with 106 digs, which ranked fifth on the team.

Splitting time with Spaay will be Mallory McIntyre, who was named one of Manitoba’s Top 10 volleyball players of 2010 by the Winnipeg Sun, and Rebecca Garringues, who led Rancho Valley Volleyball Club to the finals of the 2010 Junior National Championships Open Division.

The big question will be who can replace Jarrett as the team’s libero, or defensive specialist. Jarrett had a stellar career at UMBC and locked down that position for four years, ending in a senior year where she led the team with 340 digs and had 28 aces, which was second on the team.

While Hoeks could possibly play libero, the only two true defensive specialists on the team are sophomore Brighid Casey and freshman Kat Lincalis. Neither are known commodities, but Casey did appear in 17 matches last season, recording 21 digs and six aces. Lincalis is a local prospect from Halethorpe that attended Towson High School and was an All-Metro First Team pick in 2009 by the Baltimore Sun.

The bottom line is the team will be young, but full of talent. If Hoeks and Sande can hold them together in their final seasons, they have the ability to win UMBC’s first ever AEC Championship, but if the growing pains are too rough they should be in great position to win in the near future.

Welcome to my new location. Right now it is going to look pretty much the same for a little while (though if you’ve noticed there is a lack of pictures it’s because my camera lens broke and I couldn’t take any, but now I have my lens back so there will be a lot of pictures from now on) but at this new location there is a lot more I can do. WordPress limited me with my options but now with my new hosted website and bought domain, I can have a lot more fun with the website. But to break ground on this new location I want to post the fall sports awards. The sports that fall into this category: Men’s Soccer, Women’s Soccer, Volleyball, Men’s Cross Country, and Women’s Cross Country.

Top Coach:

Pete Caringi- Men’s Soccer

I doubt there is any surprise with this pick. Pete Caringi took a team with no seniors and was projected to finish at the bottom of the America East Conference to a 9-0 start with ended in a 14-6 record and a trip to the America East Conference Championship game. The men’s soccer team had the two highest scoring players in the nation and the team was the highest scoring in the nation.

Male Freshman of the Fall

Phil Saunders- Men’s Soccer

Pete Caringi made a gutsy move to take a player who did not even play goalie in high school and start him in goal in the season opener, making him the first freshman to do so since Soren Byskov in 1996. But the gamble definitely paid off. Saunders started every game, recorded 68 saves with a .739 save% as he allowed just 24 goals, and he recorded six shutouts as the team went 14-6.

Female Freshman of the Fall

Naomi Bush- Volleyball

The 2009 America East Volleyball Freshman of the Year joined great company as she followed in the footsteps of Sarah Ball, Ashley Oscars, and Alyssa Lang to win the award. While injuries took it’s effect on the team she stepped up big to help get the team to the post season as she recorded 169 kills, 69 digs, 21 service aces, and had 29 total blocks while hitting .228.

Best Male Performance:

Levi Houapeu’s Hat Trick vs. Albany

With their backs up against the wall in a practically a must win situation to earn a spot in the America East Conference Tournament Levi Houapeu stepped up and recorded his second hat trick of the season and dished off an assist for a seven point effort in a 5-1 win over Albany. With their next two games on the road in hostile environments, UMBC had to take care of business at home against Albany and Houapeu gave them the spark they needed with the first seven point game since Derek McElligott’s in 2001.

Best Female Performance

Suzanne Gabriel Wins The Princeton Invitational

For the first time in UMBC cross country history a woman runner crossed the finish line first. In a time of 23:15.70 Suzanne Gabriel beat the field of 112 and led UMBC to a fifth place finish at the Princeton Invitational.

Best Moment

Men’s Soccer Beating Binghamton, 2-1, On The Road In America East Conference Quarterfinals

After being outscored 7-0 in the final two games of the regular season the men’s soccer team looked to be finished as their previous loss was a 4-0 blowout by Binghamton. But one week later the men’s soccer team bounced back and took a quick lead in the second half. While Binghamton tied the game up soon after, they Retriever scored another goal to eventually win the game. While winning in a tournament is always difficult, making it more difficult was that Binghamton rarely loses at home. Going into the game they had not lost their previous 21 games and were 38-4-16 in the last seven years.

Most Improved Male Athlete

Andrew Madison- Cross Country

There are many worthy players for this award but Andrew Madison led the men’s cross country team in all six meets in which he ran after a season where he finished above third only once in the six meet season.

Most Improved Female Athlete

Iman Kennedy- Volleyball

In just one season Iman Kennedy went from a sparsely used reserve to a full-time starter and in doing so all three major stat categories for her position saw significant raises. She went from 56 kills as a freshman to 190 as a sophomore. She improved her dig total rose by 80% and she more than doubled her total blocks, going from 36 to 77.

Unsung Male Athlete

Sean Rothe- Men’s Soccer

When you see the success of the men’s soccer team you automatically give the credit to Levi Houapeu or Andrew Bulls as they scored 15 goals each, but no player did more on the field that Sean Rothe. Not only was he one of the top midfielders on the team, when the defense hit a string of injuries he moved back, played great defense, and didn’t say a work. Though he only scored on goal his defense, solid ball control, and constant running up and down the field was huge in the Retrievers 14-6 season.

Unsung Female Athlete

Kira Giles- Volleyball

While Ashley Oscars, Alyssa Lang, and Naomi Bush receiver a lot of well due credit for being able to smack the ball down and get the Retriever points, Kira Giles did everything she needed to do to help the Retrievers win. She recorded 633 assists, she was tied for second on the team with 16 service aces, she was fourth on the team in digs with 171, and she got in for 28 blocks, which was tied for fifth on the team.

Fan’s Choice Male Athlete of the Fall

Andrew Bulls- Men’s Soccer

Andrew Bulls ran away with the fan’s choice male athlete of the fall, taking nearly 70% of the votes. The America East Striker of the Year recorded 15 goals and had 11 assists. He was the nation’s highest scorer from week one after five goals and four assists in three games, and remained at that spot for the entire regular season. He started the season with 11 straight games with a point, tying Giuliano Celenza’s streak in 200. He became the fastest Retriever to recorded eight goals (six games) in UMBC Division I history, and he was named the America East Player of the Week twice and National Player of the Week after that five goals four assist week.

Fan’s Choice Female Athlete of the Fall

Mo Van Vlerah- Women’s Soccer

It was a very close race for this award by Mo Van Vlerah edged it out by one vote. While the women’s soccer team struggled this year Van Vlerah did everything she could in goal to get UMBC wins. She finished the season third in the conference with 109 saves and third with 6.41 saves per game. She recorded double-digit saves three times this year with a high of 14 against George Mason, and recorded a shutout in the teams lone conference win over Hartford.

Male Athlete of the Fall

Levi Houapeu- Men’s Soccer

When you lead the nation in points and are named the ECAC Offensive Player of the Year you’re pretty much a shoe-in for the UMBC Male Athlete of the Fall. Houapeu recorded 15 goals and 13 assists this season and was the guy that made the men’s soccer team run. If he had a bad game the team had a bad game and if he had a good game the team won. Twice this season he posted hat-tricks, which was the first time since 2001 when Derek McElligott did it. While he was injured for the majority of his sophomore campaign, he came back on fire as a junior and led the Retrievers to the America East Conference Championship game.

Female Athlete of the Fall

Alyssa Lang- Volleyball

The 2008 Rookie of the Year went from reserve to all-conference player while solidifying her role as a major force on the team. While the team was riddled with injuries to key players Lang kept the Volleyball team alive as they made it to the America East Conference Tournament. She led the team with 234 kills, tied for third with 23 service aces, was second on the team with 197 digs, and she even recorded 25 blocks. Finally, she posted eight double-doubles this season.

They recorded 21 attack errors, three service errors, and three blocking errors and hit -.034.

All-freshman team right side hitter Ali Loynachan led the team with six kills while sophomore middle blocker Iman Kennedy was second on the team with five kills, a team high six blocks, and team high .143 hitting percentage. Rookie of the Year Naomi Bush recorded three kills while second team all conference player Alyssa Lang recorded two kills with 11 digs. Sarah Joy and Ashley Oscars each recorded one kills in the game.

Kira Giles led the team with 15 assists.

With their season at a close, UMBC finished the year with a 13-13 record and will graduate four players: Pam Jarrett, Helen Smith, Oscars, and Giles.

Lang though though build on her rookie of the year performance last season with a second team all-conference year as a sophomore. This year she led the team with 232 kills (3.14 kps) and is second on the team with 186 digs (2.51 dps). She had eight double-doubles and 16 service aces.

The third Retriever to earn post-season honors was Ali Loynachan, who joined Bush on the all-rookie team. Though she missed seven games in the middle of the season she led the team in hitting percentage (.257). She had 132 kills (2.13 kps), 69 digs, 36 blocks, and 14 service aces.

Alyssa Lang led UMBC with 14 kills and added 11 digs while Naomi Bush had 13 kills. Ashley Oscars came one kill away from a double-double with nine kills and 11 digs. Kira Giles had a double-double with 23 assists and 14 digs while Allie Spaay had 24 assists and Pam Jarrett had 23 digs. Iman Kenned had seven kills with three blocks while Ali Loynachan had eight kills. The other two points came from Sarah Joy, who also led the team with four blocks.

With the team now at 5-3 in the conference they are tied with Stony Brook for second place as they split the series with them. they have just two regular season games left including a tough home game tomorrow against Binghamton and then on the road against New Hampshire next week to conclude the regular season.

For the fourth time in the 2009 volleyball season, freshman hitter Naomi Bush has been named the America East Rookie of the Week.

In a 3-0 sweep of Hartford Bush had nine kills with no errors in 14 attempts for a .643 hitting percentage. In the match she also had two blocks and one assists.

Alyssa Lang was second on the team with seven kills and Ashley Oscars has six, which is what is to be expected from those two night in and night out anymore, but Iman Kennedy stepped up for another big game with five kills while hitting .400.

Allie Spaay has come on strong lately and recorded 21 assists with six digs while Kira Giles had nine kills and five digs.

Sarah Joy had a tremendous game with five blocks.

Iman Kennedy hit a team high .800 with four kills.

It took just three sets for the volleyball team to get past the Seawolves. Stony Brook kept the sets close but UMBC got the sweep: 25-22, 25-20, 25-19.

Alyssa Lang led the team with five kills and was tied to second on the team with three digs.

Iman Kennedy was second on the team with four kills and led hitting .800.

Naomi Bush was second on the team hitting .600 with three kills.

Allie Spaay recorded seven assists and four digs while kira Giles had eight assists.

Next up for the 12-8 (4-1 AEC) Retrievers is Stony Brook again in New York for the second part of the home-and-home series.

UMBC is not 11-7 and 3-0 in America East play.

Naomi Bush has 103 kills on the year.

Volleyball outside hitter is certainly fitting in well with the volleyball team, like man of her former teammates she is dominating the America East Rookie of the week award as she has won her third this year.

Bush currently leads all freshman in kills and points per set.

In two wins over Towson and Hartford she led the team in hitting percentage (.290). She had 2.88 kills and .88 blocks per set in the two matches.

In the conference opener against Hartford she hit .476 with 10 kills and no errors with five blocks.

Against Towson she recorded 13 kills.