UMBC defeats Seton Hall in Penn State Classic

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – UMBC defeated Seton Hall 3-1 in the 41st annual Penn State Classic on Sep. 17.

Both UMBC and Seton Hall were coming off of losses against No. 13 Penn State in the Classic, 3-0 and 3-1, respectively.

The Retrievers now hold a 2-2 record in meetings with the Pirates, with the last meeting being a loss to Seton Hall in 2010.

UMBC won the first set with a strong showing by Mia Bilusic, Kamani Conteth and Michaela Di Marzi.

Seton Hall was on a scoring run on the 24th point, but a strong kill by Conteth lifted UMBC to the first set win 25-19. Bilusic finished the first set with five digs and four kills.

The Pirates held the lead in the second set, but UMBC was able to fight back and tie up the set on the seventh, eighth and tenth points.

UMBC retained the lead until the 17th point when Seton Hall took the lead on an attack error by Julia Grubisic Cabo.

The Pirates won the second set 25-21 on a block from Asli Subasili.

The third set was also close, and though Seton Hall went on a 3-0 scoring run early on, UMBC and Seton Hall went back and forth throughout the first 12 points.

Bulisic’s service ace and Conteth’s kill helped UMBC jump out to a 14-12 lead.

UMBC didn’t lose momentum after a Seton Hall timeout, though, jumping out to a 5-0 scoring run.

The Retrievers took the third set 25-16 on a Jenna Walsh attacking error.

Seton Hall kicked off the fourth set in the win column, but UMBC head coach Kasey Crider challenged an error call and helped the Retrievers tie the set at six.

After a big timeout, UMBC took the lead and went on a 3-0 scoring run.

Seton Hall was never really able to come back after, and UMBC took the win on an attacking error from Seton Hall.

Conteth finished the day with 21 kills, just two shy of her season-high versus High Point. Bilusic had 16 digs and 12 kills for the Retrievers, as well.

For the Pirates, Madeline Matheny led the squad with 14 kills, while Anna Holland had 14 digs.

UMBC will travel to Pittsburgh to take on Pitt on Sep. 20, and Seton Hall will go back to West Orange to play Providence in Big East play on Sep. 22.

Penn State will play Rutgers in Rec Hall on Sep. 20 to open Big Ten play.

Adrianna Gallucci is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email amg7989@psu.edu.