UAlbany Volleyball Battles URI to Five Sets, Falls in Twinbill in Newark
Box Score - Rhode Island | PDF
Box Score - Loyola Chicago | PDF
NEWARK, Del. – The Great Danes pushed Rhode Island to five sets, but fell to URI (25-23, 17-25, 23-25, 25-21, 12-15) and Loyola Chicago in three (20-25, 23-25, 22-25) to finish the UD Courtyard by Marriott Invitational.
Olivia Schonewise combined for 18 kills, 15 digs, four blocks and two aces for UAlbany (0-3). Including 16 kills vs. URI, Laini Leindecker combined for 21 kills, 14 digs and six blocks, while Amy Hunter tallied 18 kills and five blocks in the two matches. Viktoriia Stroilo, including 31 digs today, earned a place on the All-Tournament Team with 52 digs, 10 assists and four aces in the invitational.
Each Mikala McCauley and Emily Lopes earned double-doubles in the match against URI. McCauley had 26 assists and 11 digs, while Lopes got 22 assists and 15 digs.
“We had many chances to win every match we played this weekend,” said UAlbany coach MJ Engstrom. “However, we have a lot to learn about winning. We will make adjustments this week.”
Against UAlbany, Rhode Island's (2-0) Franki Darnold hit .323 with 28 kills and 15 digs, while Catie Steffen finished with 15 kills and 17 digs.
For Loyola Chicago (2-1) against UAlbany, Morgan Reardon got 11 kills and nine digs, while Maureen Carls compiled 10 kills and eight blocks.
In set one, URI got off to a 5-2 start. Following a UAlbany timeout, Schonewise put together four kills in a 7-3 run to pull the Great Danes ahead. URI countered with a 3-0 run, followed by UAlbany striking back on Lopes's serving with a 5-0 run, capped by a Sofia Furlong kill, to put UAlbany up 14-11. The Rams pulled to within one at 16-15, but UAlbany, fueled by four kills, burst ahead 21-16, later leading 24-20. After three foiled set point attempts, a URI service error finished the set, giving UAlbany a 25-23 win.
Helped by two Hunter kills, UAlbany got off to a 5-2 start in the second set, later going up 7-4. URI pulled ahead with five of the next six points, then a service error stopped the run and tied the set at 9-9. Off the serving of Callan Kinnan, the Rams won eight straight points to go up 17-9. Down 23-12, UAlbany made a late charge off Schonewise's serving, putting together a 5-0 run, capped by a Leindecker kill, to pull within 23-17. URI took the final two points to win the game 25-17 and tie the match 1-1.
Starting with two blocks and adding two kills, UAlbany began the third set up 4-1. URI countered by winning the next four as the teams went back and forth, with the Rams going up 13-10. Off Leindecker's serving, UAlbany won five straight to take a 15-13 advantage. URI got the lead back off a 4-0 run. UAlbany tied the set back up later at 19-19, but URI took four straight to lead 23-19. UAlbany tried to come back, taking three-straight and defending against set point off a Leindecker kill. A Steffen kill ended the set 25-23 in favor of Rhode Island, putting it up 2-1.
Following a back-and-forth start to the fourth set, at 6-6, Amanda Dolan earned three consecutive kills to spark a 5-0 run for an 11-6 advantage. At 12-7, URI won six of the next seven to tie the set back up at 13-13. A couple of UAlbany points were countered by two URI points. UAlbany countered back with three consecutive kills (Hunter, Tatum Jungsten, Leindecker) to go up 18-15. The teams exchanged points as UAlbany kept a small lead, until at 23-21, UAlbany took the final two points off URI attack errors to win 25-21 and force a tiebreak set.
Kills from Steffen and Layne Self assisted URI in winning eight of the first 11 points, with the Rams later leading 11-5 in set five. A Dolan kill and Schonewise-Furlong combo block pulled the Great Danes within four. At 13-8 URI, UAlbany tried to get back with four of the next five points, but URI's Darnold got a kill to finish the game 15-12 and give the Rams the match 3-2.
The Great Danes tried to regroup in the next match against Loyola Chicago. Two Leindecker kills helped UAlbany get off to a 4-1 start in the first set, later leading 7-4. Loyola won five of the next six, and following a Dolan kill, took five-straight off Kelly Feigh's serving to go up 14-9. UAlbany struck back with a 3-0 run, then later five of the next seven, capped by a Jungsten kill and solo block, to tie the set at 17-17. Two Loyola points were countered by two UAlbany points for a 19-19 tie. Including four Carls kills, Loyola won six of the final seven points to win the game 25-20.
Including three service aces, one each by Leindecker, Stroilo and Schonewise, the Great Danes pounced to a 9-4 start. At 12-9, the Great Danes won four-in-a-row to go up 16-9. Loyola pulled to within three at 19-16, to which UAlbany countered with a 3-0 run, capped by a Lopes ace and Leindecker kill, to lead 22-16. UAlbany had trouble closing, as Loyola tied the set with six consecutive points. A Leindecker kill put UAlbany back ahead 23-22, but Loyola won the final three points to take set two 25-23.
UAlbany took a slight lead in the third set as the teams exchanged points. At 6-4 UA, kills by Schonewise and Dolan began a 4-0 run to put the Great Danes up 10-4. Loyola put together a couple of runs, tying the set at 13-13. Schonewise earned another kill to put UAlbany ahead, but at 15-14, the Ramblers took four-straight, later leading 20-16. UAlbany got back to within two late, defending a couple of match points to make it 24-22, but a Reardon kill finished the set 25-22 and the match 3-0.
UAlbany will head to New Haven, Connecticut next weekend to compete in the Yale Invitational, taking on Boston College on Friday, September 5th at 5 p.m.
