Albany, N.Y. - After defeating Oregon on Sunday, UAlbany climbed three places to No. 11 in this week's IWLCA coaches' poll and two spots to No. 9 in the deBeer/Inside Lacrosse national top-20 media poll on Monday, March 28. The Great Danes, who have opened with seven consecutive wins to start the season, were 14th in the IWLCA and 11th in the deBeer/Inside Lacrosse rankings one week ago. The Great Danes travel to No. 19/17 Boston College on Wednesday before starting America East Conference play on April 2.
Taylor Frink was named Inside Lacrosse Division I Player of the Week for her performance in a 10-8 victory over Massachusetts on March 19. Frink matched a career-high point total with four goals and three assists. A senior attack from Baldwinsville, N.Y., Frink scored the go-ahead goal with 7:26 remaining in a battle of unbeaten top-20 teams. She is the first UAlbany player since March 24, 2009 to earn national player of the week honors. Kayla Best received the award after scoring seven points in a 16-15 overtime win against No. 13 New Hampshire.
IWLCA: 1. Maryland, 2. Northwestern, 3. Duke, 4. North Carolina, 5. Loyola, 6. Florida, 7. Virginia, 8. Pennsylvania, 9. Stanford, 10. James Madison, 11. Albany, 12. Princeton, 13. Vanderbilt, 14. Syracuse, 15. William & Mary, 16. Penn State, 17. Georgetown, 18. Dartmouth, 19. Boston College, 20. Massachusetts.
INSIDE LACROSSE: 1. Maryland, 2. Northwestern, 3. Duke, 4. Loyola, 5. North Carolina, 6. Florida, 7. Pennsylvania, 8. Virginia, 9. Albany, 10. James Madison, 11. Stanford, 12. Vanderbilt, 13. Massachusetts, 14. Princeton, 15. Penn State, 16. Syracuse, 17. Boston College, 18. Johns Hopkins, 19. William & Mary, 20. Louisville.
Paw Prints: UAlbany (7-0) has posted wins in its opening seven games for the first time as a Division I program ... the Great Danes have won 14 of its last 15 non-conference games ... Jodi Battaglia became the 14th UAlbany player to reach the 100-point mark (101) in a career by tying a season-high with three goals against Oregon ... the Great Danes are first nationally in scoring defense at 5.71 goals per game ... UAlbany travels to No. 17 Boston College on March 30 for its fourth meeting with a top-20 team this season before starting conference play on April 2 ...Taylor Frink is sixth among the NCAA Division I leaders in points (5.14 points/game) and fifth in assists (2.43 pg) ... Nikki Branchini is fifth among the national leaders in draw controls at 4.43 per game.
