Great Danes Outblock Providence 10-1 in Home Three-Set Win
Box Score
ALBANY, N.Y. – Avenging a three-set loss in October, UAlbany blocked ten attacks from Providence en route to a shutout victory (25-9, 25-23, 25-19) at the University Gym on Friday.
Tatum Jungsten hit .583, finishing with seven kills, a pair of aces and four blocks, while Sofia Furlong hit .429 with seven kills and five blocks. As a team, UAlbany (7-17, 7-4 AE) hit a season-best .284 with 36 kills, just seven attack errors and 10 blocks.
At 2-2 in the first set, Furlong earned a kill, sending Viktoriia Stroilo to serve. Stroilo served the Great Danes through an 8-0 run, including two more Furlong kills, for a 10-2 UAlbany lead. After Providence (12-17, 4-7 AE) got a pair of points back, a Jungsten-Furlong combo block started a 4-0 run from Laini Leindecker's serving, including two Jungsten solo blocks, for a 14-4 home team lead. A couple of 4-0 runs helped seal the set for UAlbany with a dominant 25-9 game one victory.
A couple of early runs of three-in-a-row off serving from Lauren Spreen and Leindecker pushed UAlbany up early 9-4. At 10-5, Providence got five of the next six to pull within one 11-10. UAlbany kept the lead until at 15-12, Mackenzie Ziegler earned a couple of aces in a string of four straight for the Friars, pushing Providence up 16-15. Back and forth the teams went until at 19-19, two Providence attack errors followed by an Amy Hunter kill put the Great Danes back in front 22-19. A pair of Friar points were countered by two from UAlbany to set up set point. The Friars defended twice, but then a Samantha Brostrom kill finished the game, giving the set to UAlbany 25-23 and putting the home team up two sets.
With the score 3-2 Providence in the third game, again Stroilo came up strong serving, helping UAlbany get a 7-0 run for a 9-3 advantage. Providence got to within 10-6, but a Jungsten kill followed by a kill and block from Hunter pushed UAlbany up by seven. At 16-9, the Friars notched four in a row to get back to within three. UAlbany did not relinquish the lead, holding by at least two the rest of the way. With the score 22-19, a pair of Providence attack errors followed by a set-sealing Amanda Dolan kill ended the game at 25-19 and the match 3-0 in favor of UAlbany.
As well as the 10-1 block advantage, UAlbany held Providence to hit .031 in the match.
Brostrom had a near double double with eight kills and 10 digs, as did Mikala McCauley, who finished with 32 assists and nine digs. Hunter finished with a team-high nine kills, while Dolan shared the team-blocks lead with Furlong with five, adding five kills.
For Providence, Kayla Fitzgerald led all players with 10 kills, adding seven digs. Jordan Wiesler had a double double with 21 assists and 13 digs.
