UAlbany Volleyball Battles Back From Down Two to Take Five-Set Match at Binghamton
Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
Postgame Interview - Laini Leindecker
VESTAL, N.Y. – The UAlbany volleyball team began America East play with a thriller, coming back from down two to win in five sets (23-25, 17-25, 25-18, 25-19, 15-12) over SUNY rival Binghamton on the road.
With a large, vociferous crowd cheering against it, UAlbany (6-7, 1-0 AE) earned a season-high 18 blocks as three players earned double digit kills to help defeat Binghamton (3-12, 0-1 AE) in the first two-set comeback win of the year.
“We decided we were going to win this match. They came out a little bit nervous around a crowd hostile to us, and we were losing our concentration a little,” said UAlbany coach MJ Engstrom. “I asked them what kind of a team they want to be, and this is where we make our move; either we have other teams manipulate us, or we take a stand and win.”
Laini Leindecker earned a double-double with 15 kills and a season-high 22 digs. Tatum Jungsten hit .348 with 10 kills, six blocks and seven digs, while Chloe Lamb hit .231 with 10 kills, including the final two in the fifth set, and five blocks, while fellow freshman Lyndsey Weiler notched nine kills, including seven in the final three sets. Amanda Dolan earned a career-high 11 blocks and six kills, moving into 7th all-time in UAlbany history in total blocks with 253.
“We weren't playing our game, we were playing faster than we were used to,” said Leindecker. “We never got flustered, and we calmed down and played our game. We starting passing and serving aggressively, and we came out and executed.”
In the support staff, Mikala McCauley nearly earned a triple-double on 44 assists, 12 digs and a career-high nine blocks. Nicole Otero finished with a career-high 27 digs while Gabrielle Hansen had 14 digs and an ace. Paula Pinto had strong serving runs, concluding with seven digs.
For Binghamton, Megan Burgess hit .243 with 16 kills, six digs and three blocks. Gabby Alicea, the Bearcats' primary offensive target in the match, hit -.017 on 60 attacks, tallying 16 kills, 19 digs, two aces and two blocks. Setter Sarah Ngo got a double-double on 49 assists and 20 digs.
A Leindecker kill sparked a 4-0 run for UAlbany, including two Lamb kills on the right side, for a 5-2 Great Danes advantage in set one. Later kills by Weiler and Jungsten kept the lead for UAlbany, but two Alicea kills helped Binghamton get a 5-0 run and lead 11-10. A Jungsten kill ended the run, with two Bearcat attack errors putting UAlbany back ahead 13-11. Binghamton tied the game at 13, then UAlbany pushed back with three-straight, including Dolan blocking an attack, for a 16-13 lead. The back and forth swings continued as the home team pulled to within one again. Leindecker earned kills to keep UAlbany ahead, then a Dolan-Lamb combo block pushed the UAlbany advantage to three at 19-16. Again the home team pushed forward to tie the set at 19-19. As Binghamton took the lead, McCauley kept going to Jungsten for kills in the middle to keep UAlbany tied. At 23-23, an Alicea kill from the back row gave Binghamton a set point chance. Leindecker attacked from the outside, with Burgess blocking the strike to give Binghamton the set 25-23.
The second set saw each side trade runs back and forth. UAlbany used an early 4-0 run, started by a Leindecker kill from the 10-foot line, to lead 4-1. Three kills in a row, plus a Great Dane error and Alicea ace, pushed the home team up 6-4. Engstrom called a timeout; UAlbany recovered and took the next three points. Binghamton put together another run off two Burgess kills to go up 10-7. UAlbany took four of the next five points, capped by two Lamb kills, to tie it up 11-11. The exchanges continued until at 14-14, three consecutive Binghamton kills, a UAlbany attack error and another Bearcat kill made it 19-14 BU. UAlbany could not recover and fell 25-17 in the second set to go down 2-0 in the match.
Into set three, the two sides kept exchanging points until at 4-3 BU, Jungsten earned a kill to send Pinto back to serve. Pinto served UAlbany through a 5-0 run, capped by a Weiler kill through the block, for a 8-4 UAlbany advantage. After a Kristella Morina kill, Weiler again punched through the block. Hansen notched an ace to build on the run, adding a Jungsten-McCauley block for a 12-5 advantage. The exchanges continued as Binghamton kept going to Alicea for kills until at 15-8, BU, off Alicea's spin serve, got five in a row to pull to within two. A Dolan kill and a BU attack error ends the streak and put UAlbany's lead back to four as the Great Danes look to hold off the home team. When BU got to within two at 18-16, Jungsten notched the kill on the long pass, putting Pinto serving again. UAlbany's front row kept defending after a Leindecker back row strike with two Jungsten-McCauley combo blocks to essentially seal the game on the 5-0 run. A back row kill from Hansen ended the game, giving UAlbany a 25-18 set three victory to continue the match.
A 3-0 run for BU put the Bearcats up 4-3 early in the fourth set, later leading 8-5. At 9-6, Dolan blocked down two Alicea strikes on the outside, then Leindecker fired away near the antenna for three-straight kills. Alicea missed on an attack to make the UAlbany run 6-0 for a 12-9 Great Danes lead. BU tied it up with help from two Alicia kills, then UAlbany countered, using four BU errors, two helped by Lamb blocks, to go up 16-12. Weiler notched some key kills as UAlbany kept the lead on exchanges. The home team got to within two at 19-17. Leindecker tipped over the blockers for a kill, then Dolan pushed one to the empty corner. Jungsten added an ace off the top of the net to push the lead to 22-17 Great Danes. UAlbany eventually took the fourth game 25-19 to even the match and force a tiebreaker set.
Dolan took charge in the beginning of set five, blocking an attack and punching two kills in, with Leindecker adding a kill as UAlbany won the first four points. To BU points were countered by kills from Lamb and Weiler for a 6-2 advantage. Back and forth the teams went as UAlbany's front row rotation kept the lead with kills and blocks. At 9-6, a Leindecker kill, Ngo handling error and a Dolan block built UAlbany's lead to 12-6. Bu looked to claw back in, getting three in a row to make it 12-9, causing UAlbany to call a timeout. Leindecker crushed a ball in the middle to end the run. Lamb notched a kill to make it set point at 14-10. BU defended twice, then Lamb attacked for the kill again to seal the comeback. UAlbany won set five 15-12 to take the match in five.
UAlbany heads back to campus for two home matches next weekend, starting with defending conference champion UNH on Friday, October 2nd at 7 p.m. at the University Gym.
