Leindecker Hits .421 with 20 Kills as UAlbany Volleyball Sweeps Oakland 3-0 in Golden Flashes Classic
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KENT, Ohio – The UAlbany volleyball team hit .357 as a team to sweep reigning Horizon League champion Oakland 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-17) in its first match of the Golden Flashes Classic.
UAlbany (2-2) earned 54 kills with just 10 errors on 98 total attacks in the three-set match against Oakland (1-3). All Great Danes with multiple attacks hit at least .200, led by Laini Leindecker, who tied a career-high with 20 kills, hitting .421 with eight digs.
“The outsides did a great job using what the Oakland defense gave them,” said UAlbany head coach MJ Engstrom. “The freshmen continued where they left off last week, playing with a lot of maturity. The team stuck to our game plan pretty well, and it paid off.”
Shannon Hurley finished with eight kills in the match. Mikala McCauley set for the team for the .365 hitting percentage, finishing with 38 assists, seven digs and five kills. Freshman Chloe Lamb hit .267 with six kills.
For Oakland, Melissa Deatsch finished with 13 kills and five digs, while Sammy Condon had nine kills and four digs.
UAlbany got off to a 4-0 start in set one, avoiding three Oakland attacks that became errors. With a couple of aces, Oakland came back to within one at 6-5. At 7-6, a Hurley kill, Condon attack error and Leindecker kill rebuilt the lead to 10-6 UAlbany. Leindecker kept earning kills and the sides kept going back and forth, with UAlbany maintaining a lead. At 20-16, Oakland won the next four to tie the set at 20-20. UAlbany called timeout, and at 21-21, took the lead with an Oakland attack error. Hurley earned a kill, then another Oakland error set up set point for UAlbany. The Great Danes took the first set 25-22.
A Nicole Otero service ace and Lamb kill gave UAlbany the first two points, as UAlbany went ahead 6-1 off a 3-0 run on kills. At 7-3, McCauley served UAlbany through a 4-0 run for an 11-3 UAlbany advantage. Oakland started to come back to pull with six at 12-6. An Amanda Dolan kill sent Gabrielle Hansen to serve, with earned an ace, followed by a Leindecker kill, for a 15-7 lead. Oakland got back to within three at 19-16; UAlbany kept the lead with kills from Hurley, Leindecker and Lamb to go up 23-18. A couple of Leindecker kills sealed it as UAlbany won the set 25-20 and took a 2-0 lead.
UAlbany kept the foot on the pedal in the third set as three Leindecker kills made it 5-1 to start. At 6-2, a kill and ace from Deatsch brought Oakland back to within two. UAlbany kept the lead as the sides went back and forth, went at 9-6, Hurley and Leindecker earned kills to give UAlbany an 11-6 lead. At 16-12, McCauley again had strong serving, leading UAlbany to a 4-0 run for an eight-point lead. A late 3-0 UAlbany run essentially sealed it as the Great Danes won the final game 25-17 and took the match in three.
UAlbany will play a pair of matches tomorrow to finish its part of the Golden Flashes Classic, taking on tournament host Kent State at 11 a.m. and Indiana State at 5 p.m.
