Stroilo Career-High 40 Digs Not Enough as UAlbany Falls in Five-Set Match to UMBC
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ALBANY, N.Y. – Up 2-1, the UAlbany volleyball team fell in a heartbreaker to UMBC in five (25-23, 26-28, 25-22, 19-25, 11-15), despite a career-high 40 Viktoriia Stroilo digs, to wrap up its homestand.
“Tonight, we fought hard, but didn't have one of our better matches,” said UAlbany coach MJ Engstrom. “UMBC played well, and Krystal Mlenchukwu had a career night. Obviously, we have a lot of work to do next week.”
Stroilo added three service aces for UAlbany (6-12, 4-2 AE) with her 40 digs, moving into sixth all-time in UAlbany history with 1,251 digs. Laini Leindecker picked up a double-double with 13 kills and 26 digs, as did Mikala McCauley with 46 assists, 14 digs and five kills. Amanda Dolan finished with 10 kills and seven blocks, while Sofia Furlong hit .333 with nine kills and four digs.
For UMBC (9-9, 3-2 AE), Mlemchukwu had a career-night, hitting .347 with 31 kills and nine digs. Sherelle Walker hit .371 with 17 kills and four blocks. Casey Griffith dug out 41 balls and had seven assists, while setter Paige Miller had 57 assists and 17 digs.
After an early 3-1 UMBC start, UAlbany won six of the next seven points, including aces by Stroilo and McCauley, to take a 7-4 lead. UMBC countered with three-straight as the teams followed by going back-and-forth. At 10-10, UAlbany won four of the next five, including a pair of Amy Hunter kills, to go up 14-11. Griffith served UMBC back to the lead at 15-14. Following some exchanges, UMBC got a 20-18 lead after a Hannah Schmidt kill. Furlong notched a kill, then Emily Lopes served an ace to tie it at 20-20, with the game later going to 23-23. On a Griffith serve, Lopes made a quick receive to keep the point alive, leading to a Hunter kill to set up set point. Furlong finished it off with a kill to lead UAlbany to win set one 25-23.
Helped by two Walker kills, UMBC got off to a 5-2 start in set two. At 8-5, Dolan earned a kill to send Leindecker back to serve. Four-straight UMBC errors, the final helped by a Dolan solo block, pushed UAlbany ahead 10-8. Later at 12-10, a pair of Mlewchukwu kills capped a 5-0 UMBC run to push the visitors up 15-12, later going up 17-14. A pair of UAlbany 3-0 runs, with Leindecker contributing three total kills, put the home team up 19-18. UMBC got the lead back at 21-20, then UAlbany countered with three-straight to go up 23-21. UMBC tied it back up to 23-23. Dolan notched a kill to get set point. On the next play, UMBC was called for a net error, but the referees reversed the decision and called for a restart of the point. UMBC won the next two to set up its own set point. A Tatum Jungsten solo block on a crushing attack from Paolo Rojas tied the set at 25-25. UMBC won the next point, and again UAlbany defended with a Jungsten kill. Mlemchukwu got two kills in a row to give the set UMBC 28-26 to tie the match.
Each team exchanged a pair of 3-0 runs to begin set three. Following a Walker, kill, Furlong and Hunter earned kills, then Stroilo notched two aces to push UAlbany in front 7-4. Each side traded a pair of points, then Griffith served UMBC to five won points to make it 11-9. Three times, UAlbany earned two points to UMBC's one, then after a Mlemchukwu kill, a Dolan kill, Furlong kill and UMBC attack error made the score 18-14 UAlbany. The visitors went on a 3-0 run to pull within one, but UAlbany did not relinquish the lead the rest of the set. UAlbany got up 20-17, later leading 24-20 after a Jungsten kill and a Dolan solo block. UMBC got a couple of kills, then UAlbany finished off the game with a Leindecker-Dolan combo block to win set three 25-22 and go up 2-1 in the match.
Sandwiched by two Dolan kills, UAlbany began the fourth set with a 4-0 run. UMBC got six of the next seven points to lead 6-5. UAlbany responded with a pair of 3-0 runs off Stroilo's and Lopes's serving to go back up by four at 11-7. UMBC got back into the set to 12-12. Jungsten served the team through a 3-0 run to make it 15-12 UAlbany, later leading 17-14. Including four Mlemchukwu kills and two team aces, UMBC won 11 of the final 13 points to take set four 25-19 and force a tiebreaker.
UMBC kept setting to Mlemchukwu, leading to three early kills for a 4-2 UMBC lead. Following an exchange, UMBC went the next four, sandwiched by two Walker kills, to go up 8-3. UAlbany won a couple of pairs of points to get within one at 11-9. UAlbany could not get closer, as Mlemchukwu added two more kills to lead UMBC to a 15-11 win in the fifth set to take the match.
UAlbany will play its next match on the road, rematching against in-state rival Binghamton on Friday, October 24th at 7 p.m.
