Leindecker Earns Career-High 21 Kills vs. Wichita State as UAlbany Volleyball Suffers Pair of Defeats
UAlbany-Marquette: Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
UAlbany-Wichita State: Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
MILWAUKEE – The UAlbany volleyball team took on two teams receiving votes in the national polls on Saturday, falling to Marquette 3-0 (16-25, 13-25, 21-25) and Wichita State (18-25, 25-23, 17-25, 12-25) on the final day of the Marquette Invitational.
“We wanted a strong tournament going on our fourth weekend, our final one before our conference schedule,” said UAlbany head coach MJ Engstrom. “Lyndsey [Weiler] did a great job stepping up in her first matches in the rotation, and Chloe [Lamb] had an outstanding weekend, scoring kills and blocks against bigger kids, getting good experience. These challenging matches will help us believe that we can handle what our conference opponents can give us.”
UAlbany (5-7) was led by Laini Leindecker, who finished the day with 28 kills, including a career-high 21 vs. Wichita State, and 18 digs. Chloe Lamb hit .371 with 17 kills and three blocks while Nicole Otero tallied 37 digs, six assists and two aces on the day.
Against UAlbany, Taylor Louis had a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs for Marquette, adding three blocks. Jenna Rosenthal concluded with seven kills and seven blocks.
Four Wichita State (9-5) players had double digit kills vs. UAlbany, led by Shimen Fayad's 13, adding five aces and 10 digs. Abbie Lehman hit .435 with 12 kills and nine blocks.
Leindecker had a couple of early kills as Marquette took an early 5-3 lead. Off Leindecker's serving, capped by an ace, UAlbany won four consecutive points to push forward 7-5. Later, another Marquette attack error plus a couple of Lyndsey Weiler kills gave UAlbany a 10-7 advantage. At 11-8, Marquette got seven of the next eight points for a 15-12 lead. The run ended with two Marquette attack errors, with the home team getting the next three on a kill, UAlbany error and service ace for an 18-14 lead. Leindecker notched a kill on the outside to end the run, but UAlbany did not get closer in the set as Marquette won seven of the last eight points, including two kills each from Louis and Joy Miley, to take the set 25-16.
Down 2-1, UAlbany rookies Weiler and Chloe Lamb each earned two kills in a row for a 4-0 run to put the Great Danes up 5-2 in the second set. At 7-4, Marquette won the next four, sandwiched by two Miley kills, to go up 8-7. Tatum Jungsten earned a kill after a furious rally to stop the run, but Marquette started another with a couple of Meghan Niemann kills leading to a 7-0 spurt. Lamb and Weiler had late kills but UAlbany was not able to recover in the game, falling 25-13 for a 2-0 Marquette lead.
Marquette took an early 4-1 lead in the third set. With a kill from Mikala McCauley on a pass over the net, UAlbany pulled to within two. At 6-4, three-straight Marquette kills and a UAlbany attack error built the home team lead to six. A couple of kills from Weiler and McCauley helped UAlbany make a few exchanges as the team tried to come back as another 3-0 Marquette run made the score 15-8. Following an exchange, a Leindecker kill, Lamb block and Marquette error bought the visitors back three points. After a Marquette point, the Great Danes stormed back with six-straight points, including two kills and a block from Lamb, to tie the set at 18. Marquette got the lead back, then Leindecker notched a kill and Marquette made a setting error as UAlbany took the lead 20-19. The two teams exchanged points, with Jungsten delivering a kill for UAlbany, as the Great Danes led 21-20. The comeback was short-lived as Marquette got the final five points to win set three 25-21 and take the match.
UAlbany returned to the court a couple of hours later to take on Wichita State. WSU's early two-point lead was erased on a service error and Weiler kill. At 7-6, the Shockers used two kills and a pair of combo blocks in a 7-0 run to take a 14-6 advantage, later leading 16-7. UAlbany got to exchanging points with WSU as Leindecker and Dolan picked up kills. A Lamb kill and Jungsten solo block pulled UAlbany within five at 20-15, but Wichita State stayed ahead and had set point chances at 24-16. The Great Danes made a last stand with kills from Leindecker and Jungsten on a pass over the net, but a Abbie Lehman kill ended the game in favor of WSU 25-18.
Into set two, UAlbany picked up the first three points on a Leindecker uncontested kill, a WSU attack error and a Jungsten service ace. UAlbany later led 7-2 after a long, furious rally that ended in Leindecker sniping the end line on a back row attack. WSU responded by winning eight of nine points, including four kills, to take the lead at 11-9. The teams went back and forth when at WSU 17-14, Weiler earned a kill, sending Nicole Otero back to serve. Otero aced WSU twice to tie the game at 17-17. WSU again went up by two, then crushing attacks for kills from Jungsten and Leindecker tied the set up again at 20-20. Wichita State used a couple of blocks to go up 23-21, leading UAlbany to call a timeout. After a rally, Leindecker hit the corner on the attack, then a Lehman attack hit the top of the net and rolled out of bounds to tie the game. McCauley kept setting to Leindecker, who hit her mark on the endline to set up set point. Gabrielle Hansen dug out the attack, McCauley went to Leindecker who buried the attack in front of the crouching libero, her 10th kill of the second set, to compete the 4-0 run, giving the set to UAlbany 25-23 and tying the match.
Set three saw WSU take an early 4-1 advantage. A Leindecker kill and Lamb block brought UAlbany within one, then WSU went back up by three. After a Dolan kill and WSU attack error, Lamb earned a pair of kills near the pole to give UAlbany the 7-6 lead, later adding another to make it 8-7. WSU put together three-straight kills to take a 10-8 lead. UAlbany got to within one at 11-10, but trailed deeper as WSU won five of six, capped by a pair of kills from Jody Larson, making a 16-11 score. At 18-12 WSU, Leindecker again got a run started with a kill. Weiler added a kill, then a WSU error made it 18-15. WSU earned two kills, then Lamb struck twice on the outside for kills, bringing UAlbany back within three again at 20-17. UAlbany could not get closer as WSU ended the set with the last five points, capped by two Shimen Fayad aces, to take the game 25-17 and go up 2-1 in the match.
A couple of strikes from the middle with Jungsten and Dolan gave UAlbany an early 2-1 lead in game four. Five-consecutive kills by Wichita State, with Larson contributing three of them, pushed the Shockers ahead 6-2, using another 3-0 run to go up 9-3. At 11-4, Dolan knocked down a kill to spark a 3-0 run and pull UAlbany within four. Lamb earned an uncontested kill to put the score back to within four, then WSU got three-straight points, including a Fayad ace, to make it 15-8. Weiler and Leindecker got kills near the pole to stop the run, but WSU got the points back on kills, adding another on a UAlbany error. Leindecker earned a couple more kills late, but UAlbany did not get closer and fell 25-12 in set four to fall in the match 3-1.
UAlbany will get set to begin America East play, taking on Binghamton in Vestal on Friday, September 25th at 7 p.m.
