UAlbany Volleyball Rallies to Take Set Two, Falls Short at Stony Brook in Four
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STONY BROOK, N.Y. – A rally by UAlbany to earn set two turned out not to be enough as the Great Danes fell at Stony Brook in four (23-25, 27-25, 21-25, 17-25) on Sunday.
With Binghamton falling today, UAlbany (8-15, 6-5 AE) retains a tie with the Bearcats for third place in the America East. Stony Brook (17-11, 7-3 AE) holds on to second place in the league.
Laini Leindecker earned her 14th double-double of the year, hitting .232 with 16 kills and 12 digs. Mikala McCauley also had a double-double with 45 assists, 13 digs and four kills, while Viktoriia Stroilo had a match-best 26 digs.
For Stony Brook, Kathy Fletcher hit .409 with 21 kills and nine digs, while Evann Slaughter hit .481 with 16 kills.
Stony Brook got five points in a span of six to take an early 5-2 advantage in set one. Including protecting on two long rallies, Stroilo served UAlbany through a 4-0 run to take a 6-5 lead. Following an exchange, Stony Brook got the next five, four off UAlbany errors, to lead 11-7. Engstrom called timeout as the Great Danes won the next two, capped by a Lauren Spreen ace, later getting to within one off kills from McCauley and Amanda Dolan to pull within one at 13-12. At 15-14, the Seawolves again won five of six to go up 20-15. Following a Tatum Jungsten kill, McCauley blocked two Stony Brook attacks in a row, then Emily Lopes notched the ace in the front row for the 4-0 run, bringing UAlbany within one at 20-19. Stony Brook kept the advantage and got the score to 23-20. UAlbany got two points off Stony Brook errors and tried to bridge the gap, but could not tie it up and fell in set one 25-23 to the home team.
UAlbany's attacks in the middle helped, as Dolan and Sofia Furlong notched early kill to give the team a 4-1 lead to start set two. Stony Brook pulled to within one at 6-5, then an Amy Hunter kill and two more from Leindecker built back UAlbany's lead to 9-5. UAlbany kept a small lead of Leindecker and Dolan kills until a Melissa Rigo kill and Fletcher ace pulled Stony Brook to within one at 12-11. UAlbany protected with a Furlong kill and Stroilo ace, but the home team got the next three to tie the set at 14. UAlbany took the lead back off a Rigo attack error and a Hunter kill to make it 16-14. The two sides began to battle back and forth until at 20-18, a Rigo kill spurred a 3-0 SB run to put the home team up 21-20. After an exchange, Jungsten earned a pair of kills in a row to put UAlbany back up 23-22. Rigo notched another kill to tie it up, then Jungsten earned another kill in the middle to set up game point. Stony Brook defended game point twice, then UAlbany had a third chance at 26-25. McCauley hit a perfect serve in front of the diving libero for the ace to win the set for UAlbany 27-25, tying the match.
In set three, UAlbany kept winning pairs of points, with two Hunter kills helping the Great Danes lead early 7-4. At 10-7, the Seawolves picked up the next three to tie the set at 10 each. UAlbany got the lead back after a SB service error, but the Seawolves got the next three to go up 13-11, inducing UAlbany to call timeout. A Hunter kill stopped the run as the two sides exchanged points, until a Leindecker kill and Stony Brook error tied it up at 16-16. Using two blocks and a kill, Stony Brook won the next four to lead 20-16. Down 24-18, UAlbany made a late charge with a Furlong kill, Jungsten solo block and a Rigo attack error, but a Rigo kill ended the set 25-21 in favor of Stony Brook to put the home team up 2-1 in the match.
An early 3-0 run put Stony Brook up 8-4 in the fourth set. UAlbany pulled to within two after a couple of Stony Brook errors as the two sides exchanged. But at 12-10, the home team won the next six points, capped by four kills, to take an 18-10 lead. Engstrom called a timeout to put together a plan as UAlbany responded with a 3-0 run, sandwiched by kills from Dolan and Hunter. Stony Brook countered with five-straight, eventually setting up match point.
UAlbany has one America East match left this year. The Great Danes will play UMBC in Baltimore on Sunday, November 16th at 1 p.m.
