Fourth Set Rally Falls Short as UAlbany Falls at Binghamton
Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
VESTAL, N.Y. – Down 2-1 and 18-10 in the fourth, the UAlbany volleyball team rallied to tie the game, but fell in that set and the match to Binghamton (17-25, 25-20, 23-25, 23-25) on Friday night.
Laini Leindecker led UAlbany (6-13, 4-3 AE) with 18 kills and eight digs in the match. Amanda Dolan hit .400 with 12 kills and six blocks, while Amy Hunter tallied 14 kills.
For Binghamton (7-15, 5-2 AE), Megan Burgess hit .417 with 18 kills and four blocks. Allison Hovie had 16 kills, five aces and nine digs.
Binghamton earned the early advantage off a couple of kills from Kristin Hovie, going up 7-4. Three kills from three different players in four points, including a hard strike down the line from Leindecker, pulled UAlbany within one 8-7. Binghamton got the next three points to go up 11-7, later leading 15-8 after a 4-0 run. UAlbany tried to get back with a couple of Hunter kills, but the Great Danes could not get closer as UAlbany fell to BU 25-17 in the first set.
At 3-2, Tatum Jungsten earned a kill, and after Leindecker notched one, Jungsten aced on the libero to put UAlbany up 5-3. BU countered with three in a row, then UAlbany responded with a trio, capped by two Dolan kills to take a 9-6 advantage. Binghamton pulled to within 11-10. Hunter notched a couple of kills, then Emily Lopes aced the back row, followed by another Hunter kill off the block attempt to make it 15-10 Great Danes. The Bearcats got the next six to go ahead 16-15. A Jungsten tip kill tied the set up, followed by the home team getting the next two points. UAlbany put together a 6-0 run off some long rallies, keyed by a couple of big digs by Lauren Spreen, two kills by Leindecker and a block and kill from Dolan, to surge ahead 22-18. Following a Kristin Hovie kill, UAlbany took three of the final four kills to win 25-20 and tie the match.
An early pair of points off a Sofia Furlong kill and a Viktoriia Stroilo ace pushed UAlbany ahead 4-2. At 5-3, BU took the lead with three in a row to lead 6-5, then gave it back on three errors to make it 8-6 UAlbany. BU got another three points to go back up 9-8. At 10-9, Furlong led the charge with three kills in a 5-0 run to put the visitors up 14-10. BU got the next three, then Furlong blocked two BU attacks to put UAlbany back up by three at 16-13. Furlong continued to notch kills as UAlbany went back and forth with BU. BU pulled to within one at 21-20 as UAlbany called timeout. A Dolan-Leindecker combo block put the lead back to two. Bianca Anderson went on a personal 3-0 run off a block, kill and another block to put the home team up 23-22. Leindecker stopped the run with a kill, but BU won the final two points to take the set 25-23 and go back up 2-1 in the match.
Off a couple of Burgess points, Binghamton took an early 7-3 lead over UAlbany. The Great Danes got to within two at 7-5, later making it 12-10 following a Lopes service ace. Off the serving of Allison Hovie, BU went on a 6-0 run to go up 18-10. Engstrom called timeout to get UAlbany back in gear. Olivia Schonewise subbed in and earned a kill, then Leindecker added two more, leading BU to call timeout. A BU error and another Leindecker kill made the run five as UAlbany pulled within three at 18-15. BU went back up by five, which UAlbany pulled back within three 20-17. At 21-17, Dolan got strong with a kill and a pair of blocks in a row to pull the Danes within one. Following a Kristin Hovie kill, Dolan came up again with two kills in the middle to tie it up 22-22, as Binghamton called timeout. BU got the next two points to lead 24-22. A Dolan kill gave UAlbany the serve, but an Allison Hovie kill ended it as Binghamton got the set 25-23 to win the match in four.
UAlbany will return to play its final regular season home matches, starting with New Hampshire on Friday, October 31st at 7 p.m.
