Lindsay Fogarty registered a team-best 10 kills and hit at a .391 clip to lift the UNH volleyball team to Sunday afternoon's convincing 3-0 sweep of UMBC in America East action at the Lundholm Gymnasium.
UNH improved to 13-14 overall with a 5-5 mark in America East play, while UMBC falls to 13-12 and 5-5 in AE play.
The Wildcats, who have now won four in a row and five of their last six matches, secured the second seed in the upcoming America East Championship, and will play third-seeded Binghamton.
The four-team tournament will be held at top-seeded Albany on Nov. 20-21. Time for the Binghamton/UNH semifinal match is still to be determined.
The other semifinal match pits top-seeded Albany against fourth-seeded UMBC. The winners will meet on Saturday for the America East Championship and the league's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
Overall, UNH has won 12 of its last 14 sets and qualified for the AE Championship after a one-year hiatus.
In addition to Fogarty, Kirsten Bates tallied nine kills, six digs and hit at a .368 clip. Kate Uitti dished out a match-high 31 assists, while Sara Heldman added 11 defensive digs.
In the opening set, the Retrievers jumped out to an early 2-1 lead which was quickly erased by six straight UNH points making it 7-2.
The Wildcats never trailed again in the set as they expanded the lead to 18-9 on an 11-7 run and went on to capture a 10-point victory. UNH hit at a .577 clip with 16 kills compared to just one attacking error.
UNH carried its momentum into the second set as it jumped out to an early 8-4 lead.
UMBC responded with six straight points and a large 9-2 run to make it 13-10. The Wildcats tied it at 15-15 with a rally of their own.
The set was knotted at 20-20, before UNH closed out the set by capturing five of the final six points, which included a pair of aces by Heldman.
In the third and final set, UNH got out to a 6-1 lead and never trailed in the set. The Retrievers narrowed the margin to 11-9, but an 8-3 run secured the Wildcats lead as they went on for an eight point set victory.
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