UAlbany Volleyball Sweeps UNH to Tie for First Place in America East Play
Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
DURHAM, N.H. – Avenging an earlier loss in the year, the UAlbany volleyball team swept New Hampshire, previously unbeaten in conference, in three (25-18, 25-23, 25-22) to tie for first place atop the America East standings.
UAlbany (13-8, 8-1 AE) has now won seven consecutive matches and is tied with New Hampshire (16-8, 8-1 AE) in conference play with three matches to go in the regular season. The team that finishes first earns the right to host the America East Tournament.
“Today, we started very strong out of the blocks, and that's important when playing a good team on its home court,” said UAlbany coach MJ Engstrom, “We executed our game plan pretty well and the team stayed focused and intense even when we were down.”
Against UNH, UAlbany hit .289 as a team with 54 kills, the season-high in a three-set match, and outblocked its opponent 7-3. Shannon Hurley hit .452 with 15 kills and just one attack error, while Tatum Jungsten hit .444 with eight kills.
“All of us were very determined to win this match,” said Hurley. “We knew it was going to be a tough environment to play in, but we just had to stay focused, pass well and execute with our offense.”
Laini Leindecker earned a double-double with 19 kills and 15 digs, as did Mikala McCauley with 43 assists, 15 digs and three blocks. Nicole Otero concluded with 24 digs and three assists at libero.
“The freshmen are stepping up and taking more responsibility for their performance, and that makes a huge difference in frustrating our opponents,” said Engstrom.
For UNH, Demi Muses had a double-double off 11 kills and 19 digs, as did Tori Forrest with 10 kills and 17 digs.
UAlbany found early attacks in the middle, with Jungsten getting two kills in a row to make it 6-2 early. At 7-4, a McCauley dump kill and a UNH error put UAlbany ahead by five. The sides traded points back and forth as UAlbany's middles plus Hurley kept earning kills, later leading 13-6. After a Tori Forrest kill, kills by Leindecker and Chloe Lamb plus a Lamb-Jungsten combo block completed a 3-0 run for a 16-7 advantage. UNH called a timeout and responded with three straight kills to pull to 16-10. At 19-14, Dolan had a big kill on a pass to the corner on the second touch, helping UAlbany keep the advantage. Leindecker had kills in three of the final four points as UAlbany grabbed set one 25-18.
At 3-3 in the second set, UNH took four straight, capped by a couple of kills, for a 7-3 lead. UAlbany got three of the next four, including McCauley solo blocking an Abby Brinkman attack, to get within two at 8-6. UNH kept a small lead going forward, when at 12-8, kills from Hurley, McCauley and Hurley again twice on long rallies tied it up at 12-12. UNH got a kill to take back the lead, then UAlbany struck back with a 3-0 run, started by kills from Hurley and Leindecker, to take a 15-13 lead. After an exchange, UNH went back up with a 6-0 run for an 20-16 home team lead. UAlbany attacked back, surging forward with five in a row to take a 21-20 lead. The teams battled to a tie at 23-23. Hurley pounded a cross court kill to get a set point chance. The next point, UAlbany blocked down a Forrest attack on the outside to win the set 25-23 and take a 2-0 lead.
After some trading back and forth early, kills from three different UAlbany players helped the visitors take an 8-5 lead in set three. Cassisy Croci and Brinkman combined for a 3-0 run on kills to give UNH a lead at 11-10. At 13-12, again UAlbany's front row showed its versatility with three players earning kills to send UAlbany up 15-13. Brinkman notched a kill, then UAlbany blocked the next two attacks. Later, two more UNH attack errors made it 19-15 UAlbany, later leading 20-16. UNH got back into the set with a 4-0 run to tie it up. Leindecker and Brinkman kept exchanging kills, when one by the former made it 23-22. The next two points, Hurley crushed two attacks down to the floor to give UAlbany the 25-22 win, sealing the match in three.
UAlbany returns home for Senior Day on Friday, November 6th at 7 p.m. against Stony Brook at the University Gym.
