UAlbany Volleyball Comes Back to Earn Five-Set Victory over Belmont for First 2015 Win

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MUNCIE, Ind. – UAlbany finished its weekend with a thrilling five-set victory over Belmont (20-25, 25-13, 25-22, 24-26, 15-9) at the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge on Saturday to earn its first win of the year.

UAlbany (1-2) finishes in third place in the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge with the win over Belmont (0-3).

“We began a little slow, but we made some adjustments defensively and started serving more aggressively,” said UAlbany coach MJ Engstrom. “Our passing helped with being creative offense.  Many people are noteworthy; however, I want to say specifically that our freshmen grew a lot this weekend and did a great job!”

Laini Leindecker finished with a double-double on 13 kills and 19 digs, as did Mikala McCauley with 34 assists and 14 digs.  Shannon Hurley had a team-best 15 kills, adding three blocks, while Paula Pinto earned 19 digs and three service aces.

“After team inconsistency in the first set, we figured out how to regroup in the second and finish strong,” said Leindecker. “We have young players playing a vital role, and they performed strongly, never getting flustered.”

For Belmont, Arianna Person had a double-double with 18 kills and 27 digs.  Jessica Vestal concluded with 15 kills and nine digs.

In set one, a couple of Person service aces helped Belmont start off with a 6-2 advantage.  After a Belmont service error, kills by Leindecker and Amanda Dolan spurred UAlbany to a 4-0 run to tie the set at six.  At 7-7, Belmont got the next five points, including three different players with kills, for a 12-7 lead, later going up 16-10.  UAlbany earned three points in a row, including kills from Hurley and Tatum Jungsten, to pull within three.  Belmont rebuilt the advantage to nine to 23-14.  UAlbany kept fighting, earning a couple of 3-0 runs, but could not bridge the gap and fell in set one 25-20.

Belmont got the first two points of set three and later led 6-3.  UAlbany tied up the score at 7-7 with kills from Hurley and Leindecker.  Belmont won the next point on a Person kill for an 8-7 lead.  UAlbany took the lead after a couple of Belmont errors, then went on a 3-0 run, capped by a Pinto ace, to go up 12-9.  UAlbany's front row took control with a Belmont service error, Hurley kill, Dolan kill and then a Dolan-Hurley combo block built UAlbany's advantage to 16-10.  After some exchanges to put the score at 19-13, the Great Danes surged forward on Gabrielle Hansen's serving and Jungsten's kill and pair of blocks, finishing the set on a 6-0 run and taking set two 25-13 to even the match.

Set three saw UAlbany come back from down two early to go up 4-2, including to service aces from Pinto.  At 4-3, the Great Danes went on another 4-0 run, sandwiched by kills from Leindecker and Hurley, to go up 8-3.  Inlcuing a couple of Vestal kills, Belmont got to within three at 11-8.  UAlbany countered on Hansen's serving for four-straight, including a Chloe Lamb kill, to go up 15-8.  Two more kills from Leindecker made the UAlbany lead 18-10.  Belmont made a comeback attempt, winning 11 of the next 14 points to come within two at 23-21.  UAlbany team captain put a stop to the try with two kills in the final three points, sealing the set for the Great Danes 25-22 for a 2-1 match lead.

The fourth game was battle back and forth as the two sides exchanged the lead a number of times.  At 9-8 UAlbany, Ellie Ivancich served Belmont through a 4-0 run to give the Bruins the lead 12-9, later leading 16-13.  Lamb earned a kill, then Person hit a ball out to pull UAlbany within one, to which Belmont responded with two kills to rebuild its lead to three.  At 21-17 Belmont, Engstrom called a timeout to strategize.  Hurley earned a pair of consecutive kills, and with Nicole Otero serving, UAlbany completed a 6-0 run to surge ahead 23-21.  Belmont tied it up at 23-23, then committed a service error to set up match point.  Hurley attacks for the win but was blocked, then Person got two kills in a row to give Belmont the set 26-24 and force a tiebreaker.

At 1-0 Belmont into set five, a Bruin service error sent Pinto back to serve.  Leindecker and Hansen earned kills as UAlbany finished a 5-0 spurt to lead 5-1.  Following a Vestal kill, Dolan earned a kill in the middle as Leindecker continued the strong serving as UAlbany took an 8-2 advantage.  At 9-4, a Hurley kill, McCauley dump kill and Jungsten-Lamb combo block made it 12-4 UAlbany. Belmont tried to come back, with three Person kills helping build a 4-0 run.  A Jungsten kill and Hansen ace ended the threat.  UAlbany took the fifth set 15-9 to earn the 3-2 victory.

UAlbany returns home and will prepare for the Golden Flashes Classic in Kent, Ohio next weekend.