Leindecker, Dolan Earn 12 Kills Each, UAlbany Volleyball Falls in Three at Syracuse

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Despite a strong third set for the Great Danes, the UAlbany volleyball team fell to tournament host Syracuse in three (20-25, 10-25, 25-27) to open the Otto Invitational.

Laini Leindecker led UAlbany (2-8), hitting .257 with 12 kills and seven digs.  Amanda Dolan also had 12 kills, adding six digs, while Mikala McCauley picked up a double-double with 32 assists and 10 digs.

“We are down a couple of players right now, but the team played hard and battled with Syracuse in the first and third sets, and they will be ready for tomorrow,” said UAlbany head coach MJ Engstrom.

For Syracuse (6-4), Monika Salkute and Silvi Uattara each had 14 kills, with the former adding eight blocks and seven digs and the latter having 10 digs.

Down 4-2, Dolan and Tatum Jungsten notched hard kills to tie the first set up.  Back and forth the sides went, as Syracuse got two points, then UAlbany got the two back on two SU attack errors, then Leindecker earned kills to tie up the set again at seven and eight.  Syracuse built the lead to three after kills from Salkute and Uattara at 12-9, later leading 15-11.  A Jungsten-Olivia Schonewise combo block on an attack from the 10-foot line stopped the run, adding a Leindecker kill to pull within two.  Down 17-14, a Leindecker kill, McCauley service ace and fourth touch on SU gave UAlbany the 3-0 run to tie the set 17-17.  A Uattara set up an Orange 3-0 run to pull back ahead 20-17.  Down 22-18, UAlbany looked to get back into the set, seeing Schonewise and Dolan earn kills in succession, but the Orange won the final three points to win set one 25-20.

At 2-1 in the first set, Syracuse took the next five points to build a 7-1 advantage.  Kills by Dolan and Leindecker stopped the run, but Syracuse added to its lead to 14-4.  A Jungsten-Schonewise combo block sparked a 3-0 UAlbany run, but Syracuse got 11 of the final 14 points to win the game 25-10.

UAlbany looked to regroup for the third set.  Started by kills from Dolan and Leindecker, UAlbany won seven of the first nine points, including another kill and a block from Dolan and a Leindecker ace, to lead 7-2.  At 8-4, UAlbany took advantage of three-consecutive Syracuse errors, then after a Valeriya Shaipova kill, a Leindecker kill and Jungsten service ace put the Great Danes up 13-5.  Syracuse pulled with 15-12, then two Dolan kills put UAlbany back ahead by five.  The teams exchanged points until at 20-15 UA, Syracuse got three kills in a row to pull within two at 20-18.  The sides continued to trade points, until after a Schonewise tip kill made it 23-20, two kills from Uattara and a Salkute kill tied it up.  A Dolan kill gave UAlbany set point, but SU got two kills-straight to set up its own set point.  Schonewise stopped the chance with a kill on the outside, but a service error and Uattara kill gave the set to Syracuse 27-25 to win the match 3-0.

UAlbany finishes the Otto Invite tomorrow, taking on Cornell at 10 a.m. and Colgate at 4 p.m. in the Women's Building in Syracuse.