Brostrom's 17 Kills Guides UAlbany to Sweep UNH for First Place
Box Score
ALBANY, N.Y. – UAlbany sits in first place in the America East after sweeping conference leader New Hampshire (25-14, 25-16, 25-20) on Sunday.
With the win, UAlbany ties UNH at the top for 5-2 in the America East with UMBC and Stony Brook.
“Today we came out focused and ran our gameplan almost perfectly,” says coach MJ Engstrom. “We kept our errors to a minimum and made good adjustments; overall it was a great effort against a strong UNH team.”
Samantha Brostrom hit .286 with 17 kills, a season-best mark in a three-set match, adding eight digs. Mikala McCauley earned her sixth double double of the year with 34 assists and a career-high 19 digs, adding four kills, three blocks and two aces.
“Sam [Brostrom] did a great job in all six rotations today, and Mikala [McCauley] had her best defensive match of her career,” add Engstrom.
Back and forth the first set began as the two sides got to 3-3. Three straight kills from Sofia Furlong, Brostrom and Tatum Jungsten led UAlbany (5-15, 5-2 AE) to take a 6-3 lead. UNH (11-12, 5-2 AE) got a couple points back to make it 6-5, but UAlbany countered by taking six of the next seven, including by a solo block and kill by Amy Hunter, for a 12-6 advantage. Two kills and a block by Tori Forrest started a 4-0 UNH to bring the Wildcats within two. The two sides exchanged until 14-12. Started by an Amanda Dolan kill, Lauren Spreen served UAlbany through a 7-0 run, six of the points off kills, including three from Brostrom, to surge ahead 21-12. Another late 3-0 run sealed the game to UAlbany as the Great Danes won 25-14.
Set two begin similarly to the previous game, with the two teams exchanging until 4-4. Started by a Furlong kill and continued with two more Brostrom kills, a 4-0 run put UAlbany ahead 8-4. UNH took six of the next eight points to get within one at 11-10. Following a Hunter kill, Spreen again served through a run, this one 3-0, for a 14-10 home team advantage. A Morgan Thatcher kill stopped that run as another started the next point: a Furlong kill followed by Viktoriia Stroilo serving led to four consecutive points and an 18-11 lead. At 19-13, Brostrom earned a kill then served for a pair of points to make it 22-13 UAlbany. The Great Danes took the set 25-16 to lead 2-0 in the match.
Down 2-1 in third set, Spreen served strongly again, getting a 3-0 run with a couple of Brostrom kills for a 4-2 UAlbany lead. After a home team attack error, a Brostrom kill and two consecutive Furlong-Jungsten combo blocks made it 7-3 UAlbany. Two UNH scores were countered by three UAlbany points, capped by a Rebecca Rivera ace, putting the score at 10-5. UNH pushed back with five of the next six to make it 11-10 Great Danes. At 14-13, kills by Dolan and Furlong preserved the lead for UAlbany. After a UNH point, a Dolan kill and UNH setting error pushed UAlbany up 18-14. The Great Danes and Wildcats kept exchanging points until 21-18, a Hunter kill and Furlong block and Hunter kill gave UAlbany a five-point lead. A Brostrom finished off the Wildcats as UAlbany won set three 25-20 to complete the sweep.
UAlbany had 76 digs in the match to UNH's 55, also outblocking its opponent 7-2. Stroilo concluded with 20 digs in the match, while Spreen had 14.
“Both Vik [Stroilo] and Lauren [Spreen] played excellent defense today, reading the offense and passing very well,” says Engstrom.
For UNH, Tori Forrest led the team with nine kills and 14 digs. Morgan Thatcher and Abby Brinkman each had six kills.
UAlbany will hit the road next week, taking on travel partner Binghamton on Saturday, October 26th at 5 p.m.
