It's time to get your sneak on! We will be running "Silence is Golden" tonight at 7pm in Meyerhoff 030. Hope to see you there!

Serving for the win, she tosses the ball up high– everyone’s eyes are locked in. As the ball hangs in the air, a vicious spike smashes the ball downward as it bounces off the ground resulting in a point.

UMBC’s women’s volleyball team has been on a roll lately and that is thanks in part to Kristin Watson and Carmen Freeman. These two women have each made an impact on the team in their own ways. Watson is the co-captain on the team and one of the defensive anchors, also named the defensive player of the year for the conference last year.

Carmen Freeman, a freshman on the team, has garnished a great deal of respect in her own right earning rookie of the week on three separate occasions.

The UMBC Volleyball team has won four of the last give games after facing Binghamton. The Retrievers won 3-1 taking three straight sets.

Preparation is key explains Coach Ian Blanchard as he discusses the team’s preparation strategy for starting conference season.

“We try to prepare as best we can for each opponent and try to figure out their strengths and weaknesses”.

The Retrievers were definitely able to spot some weaknesses and make a strong comeback, dominating in the last two sets. Watson showed up as expected with 20 digs while Carmen showed out on her side with 16 kills.

This game marked the team’s third straight conference game out of seven and demonstrated the team’s strong start on the right foot with this win. Rebounding after a loss where they didn’t win a set was a tremendous feeling, a triumphant return of that winning high as Carmen explains.

“It definitely hurts. Especially when you’re on a streak, you’re on a mindset of winning and then you lose and its like, oh forgot what that feels like. But I think we’re all ready to get back in it and play well against other teams”.

These last two seasons have fared well for the Retrievers, posting a winning record the previous season and continuing that run with a winning record so far this year. Coach Blanchard describes this year’s team as, “one of best teams we’ve had from a chemistry perspective. We have very good leadership in our junior class as well as the sophomore class which provides a good look for our freshman.”

Watson is one of these unsung heroes on that back end, keeping the volleyball in play and saving points. Going into Binghamton, she expressed their determination and admits mistakes and shortcomings from the previous matchup.

“This is our very first home conference game so we’re excited about that but we have to be more aggressive in our serves, try to be in sync for our serve receive and i think that’ll lead to the rest of our game going well.”

Watson is one of the junior leaders that has helped to shape this winning mentality for the team with a tremendous amount of hard work and focus. There was no doubt about this when asked about getting over the loss to Hartford where she stated: “We dont want to play like that again. It was some what of a wake up call we gotta be better we gotta work harder and stay focused if we want to compete.”

That loss along with Watson’s leadership seemed to re-motivate the team to continue their streak with a 3-1 win against Binghamton. The Retrievers continue to make a run for the championship with a postponed game against Albany and two away matches against University of Massachusetts Lowell and New Hampshire starting on Friday, Oct. 13.

The First Year Intervention Program (FYI) is one of the many services that the Learning Resources Center offers to UMBC students. 

The purpose of the program is twofold: to notify students in their first year at UMBC that they are in jeopardy of receiving a D or F in a certain course and to provide them with resources to improve their grade in that course and preserve their GPA. 

By alerting students early in the semester, students have the ability to make the necessary changes to improve their grade and become successful in their academic careers. 

When do FYI alerts get sent?

The FYI reporting period for the Fall 2017 semester is scheduled run from Monday, October 2, 2017 through Friday, November 3, 2017.

Help! I got an alert in one of my courses! What should I do?

Your professor sent you an alert because you are in danger of receiving a D or an F in that course. The first thing you should do is to contact your professor to figure out what your exact grade is and what you can do about it. Next, visit our Action Resource Center to see if there’s any services at UMBC that can help you improve your grade.

You can also schedule an academic success meeting with a staff member at the Learning Resources Center.  

I got an alert, but I’m not in my first year at UMBC.

The alert program is designed to notify students in their first year at UMBC; however, instructors have the ability to send alerts to any student who is in danger of receiving a D or F in the course. If you received an alert, it means that your grade is in jeopardy and you should take action immediately.

If I’m in danger of receiving a D or an F, doesn’t that mean I could still be passing?

It is possible, but you could just barely be passing. If you are in a course that has a second level to it (such as MATH 150, or BIOL 141), you MUST receive a C or higher to move on to the next level. If you are trying to fulfill your GEP requirements with a course, you MUST have a C or higher for it to count. This is why we ask professors to let you know if you are in danger of receiving a D.  

If you have any further questions about the FYI program, please email fyi@umbc.edu

On Friday evening, poets, lovers of poetry and friends gathered in the atrium of the Performing Arts and Humanities Building to listen to nine poets in the campus community share their work. The fifth annual Big Prize Poetry Slam helped kick off Homecoming festivities which continue through October 14. The event is hosted by the English Department, the Homecoming Committee and Bartleby, the UMBC creative arts journal.

Sally Shivnan, Associate Director of the Writing and Rhetoric Division of the English Department, believes that the poetry slam is special because it brings different people together to celebrate the creative community.

Shivnan says, “It’s a perfect storm of students, alumni, faculty, fans, all supporting each other, caring about poetry, recognizing that this art form matters and that these poets sharing their work really matter[s].”

The poetry slam is incredibly festive, but it is also competitive. The organization committee receives many entries. The committee evaluates all of the auditions and selects eight to nine poets to compete at the event.

“What makes this particular poetry slam special, is its competitive but very supportive spirit,” says Shivnan. “Our poets come from across all majors, and their poetry spans a great spectrum of interests and forms. We get heart-breaking, politically powerful slam poetry; we get soaring, beautiful lyric poetry.”

Dan Rodaire, the poetry slam emcee, began the night by introducing the five judges. The judges determine the final scores of each competing poet and decide the winners of the event. He then randomly selected a name from a hat. Tess Mcrae, a freshman English major, was the first competitor to share her work.

Poems conveyed personal stories, glimpses of beauty and specific emotions shared through spoken words. Charles Griffin took home the third place prize that night.

Calista Ogburn, a freshman public health major, won second place.

“During my years in high school, I went through traumatic experience[s] and poetry was my way of coping,” said Ogburn.

Ogburn shared a story about her best friend and how the two helped each other realize the beauty in life with or without the ability to hear. She used sign language throughout her poem.

Amber C. Wheeler, a sophomore English major, took home the first place prize of $200.

“Poetry is the only way I know how to speak. It is my tongue,” Wheeler said. “Without a platform, you don’t know how high you can go. Without the pressure of an audience you don’t know what you’re capable of.”

Retriever’s volleyball looks to extend their America East record Oct. 13 against New Hampshire. After an impressive sweep of Hartford, UMBC was on a four-game winning streak until a 3-0 Stony Brook loss. The Retrievers have returned triumphantly with an at-home win against Binghamton on Friday Oct. 6.

That opening game against Hartford had junior Paola Rojas (San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico/Notre Dame) showcase a career-high 14 kills and be named UMBC athlete of the week. This was while she still waited on word from her family after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico on Sept. 20.

“It was kind of hard to concentrate on my game, but I had my coaches. They were there for me, helping me out. It was just a team effort,” said Rojas.

Last year’s two games against Stony Brook each went the full five sets and were extremely competitive. Head Coach Ian Blanchard hopes for another easy sweep, but feels that both teams are evenly matched on multiple fronts which should lead to another competitive night for the Retrievers.

So competitive were their games last year that junior Kristin Watson (Bowie, MD/Eleanor Roosevelt) nearly broke the school record for digs in the Stony Brook game. Head Coach Blanchard feels Kristin Watson, coming off defensive player of the week honors for the Hartford game, brings an energy to the team that compounds with the comradery seen with Paola Rojas.

“She’s just such a positive bolt of energy as a defensive player,” said Blanchard. “I think she inspires her teammates and everyone else wants to work hard around her.”

Head Coach Blanchard, speaking briefly about their game against No. 12 ranked Nebraska back on Sept. 1, brought up the size difference UMBC normally faces. That loss appears to have inspired the team moving forward though.

“We’re not the most physical team in the conference, we’re not the biggest team in the conference, but we like to think that we play with a lot of heart,” said Blanchard

As seen by the rallying around our athletes with family in Puerto Rico, to the positive impact Kristin Watson brings to the team, it is hard to argue that UMBC volleyball does not have an incredible amount of heart.

They will need that sense of family to continue their great start to the conference.