TOWSON, Md. – The La Salle University volleyball team (7-6) earned a hard-fought 3-2 victory over UMBC on the final day of the Towson Invitational on Saturday. In the second game of the day, the Explorers suffered a 3-0 loss to eventual team champion Ball State (9-4).
 
La Salle at UMBC
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Explorers had difficulty getting on track during the first set, with several attacks missing the mark to put them behind UMBC at the start.
• The Retrievers held the lead 21-14, before four straight kills from junior Devin Corah and sophomores Reilly Lowe and Sam Graver trimmed the margin to three.
• La Salle was unable to come back and suffered a 25-18 loss in the first set.
• Eager to retaliate in game two, La Salle pulled ahead quickly and remained in the lead for the duration of the game, earning a 25-22 victory over UMBC to tie up the match, 1-1.
• The third set showed a narrow margin on the scoreboard from start to finish. However, a handful of attack errors by La Salle gave the Retrievers enough leverage to take the game, 25-22.
• The Explorers came back in full force, registering a 25-22 win in game four to enter the fifth set with a 2-2 tie in the match.
• Corah helped the Explorers defeat UMBC, 15-8, in the final game to secure the match, 3-2. She had five kills in the game, accounting for one-third of the points.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Senior Madison Kuch had a season-high 14 kills to lead the Explorers and added three blocks.
• Corah tacked on 12 kills, and Lowe was the third Explorer to reach a season-high in kills with 10. 

La Salle at Ball State
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Catherine Edgington started off the match with three kills in three attempts.
• La Salle had trouble getting its offense going off the serve, sacrificing nine points to service errors.
• Ball State took advantage of the Explorer errors and took the first game, 25-20.
• The second set saw the Cardinals go on an eight-point run, helping them win 25-13.
• La Salle's offense looked promising in the third game, going on a five-point scoring run to catch up to Ball State, evening the board at 16-16.
• The Cardinals earned four straight points to pull ahead, and eventually earned a 25-19, game-three win to take the match.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Corah led the Explorers for a fourth straight match in kills with 15.
• Wood closed with 33 assists.
• Senior Jensen Sharrits tallied 19 digs, averaging 6.3 per game. 

UP NEXT
The Explorers will travel to Virginia next week to kick off conference play against Atlantic 10 competitor VCU on Friday, Sep. 21 at 7:00 p.m.