BALTIMORE- The La Salle volleyball team battled to a 3-2 (25-18, 21-25, 25-19, 21-25, 15-13) win at UMBC on Tuesday night. Sophomore Hannah McGary set a program record with eight aces in the five-set match.
 
McGary hit .444 on the night adding 13 kills on just 27 swings with only a single error. She was joined in double-digit kills by classmate Bryanna Davis who led all hitters with 18, and freshman Madison Kuch with 10.
 
"We had talked about needing more offense from the right pin," added coach Caitlin Rimgaila. "Hannah stepped up and was able to really produce from the right side tonight. Her adding eight aces also really helped us battle and aid in our offense."
 
Set one saw the Explorers open up an early lead and cruise to a 25-18 set win. Davis had five kills in the frame while Kuch added four of her own and the team was able to hit .407 in the set.
 
The Retrievers were able to even things up thanks to taking the second set 21-25. La Salle was able to keep it close, not allowing the hosts to open up a lead of more than five points at any point in the set, but couldn't completely close the gap. Davis added six kills in the set, hitting .500 in the frame while freshman Jensen Sharrits had six of her 21 digs in the set.
 
La Salle was able to regain the lead thanks to a 25-19 third set win. Despite UMBC keeping things close early in the set La Salle was able to end the set on an 8-2 run to seal the set win. Two aces from Hannah McGary helped to close out the set. Davis and McGary each had two kills in the set with McGary hitting .666 in the frame.
 
UMBC would not roll over, as they grabbed the fourth set 21-25 to send things to a decisive fifth set.  
 
"Momentum kept swinging back and forth throughout the match," stated Rimgaila. "We controlled the first, third, and fifth sets while UMBC looked the better team in the second and fourth sets. We knew we had to come out and close out the match in set five and we were able to do so."
 
The Explorers were able to close out the win by hitting .421 in the final frame including .666 (4-6) from McGary in the final set.
 
Freshman Taylor Hite finished with 45 assists to go along with six kills on the evenings. She helped guide an offense that hit .323 as a team on the match.
 
La Salle returns to action this weekend as they open up Atlantic 10 play by hosting Saint Louis and Dayton on Friday and Saturday respectively with each match set to begin at 7 p.m.