ALBANY, N.Y. – Laini Leindecker became the newest member of the 1,000-dig club as the UAlbany volleyball team improved to 3-0 in America East play with a four set victory over Hartford (25-6, 16-25, 25-17, 25-17).
UAlbany (9-6, 3-0 AE) hit .274 and battled back from falling in the second game to win its seventh consecutive match.
“We came out this afternoon very focused, but we didn't escape the trap that commonly happens when an opponent doesn't play well in the first set,” said UAlbany coach MJ Engstrom. “Hartford did a good job making adjustments, and we just need to get better at bracing ourselves for the push back from the other side in the second set.”
With her seventh dig out of 11 in the match in the second set, Leindecker earned her 1,000th dig of her career. She is the 11th player in UAlbany volleyball history to reach that mark.
“We played well today; we need to work on staying aggressive the whole match, but overall, I am happy with how this team fights,” said Leindecker.
“I want to congratulate Laini on going over 1,000 digs in her career!” said Engstrom. “She finds numerous ways to win, and not many outside hitters are as versatile as she is. It is a great accomplishment!”
Leindecker nearly had a double-double, finishing with nine kills, four aces and 13 digs. Amanda Dolan hit .500 with 11 kills and three blocks. Chloe Evering had a .310 hitting percentage with 12 kills and two blocks while Akuabata Okenwa notched 10 kills and two blocks.
“Having Nicole Otero back helped a lot with our passing, which helped us set Dolan, who had one of her better offensive days,” said Engstrom. “Our freshman pin hitters. Evering and Okenwa, had a productive weekend, and that is helping the offense flow better as their confidence grows.”
For Hartford, Paulina Modestow finished with 13 kills and five digs. Jenna Bridges tallied nine kills, two aces and three blocks.
Mikala McCauley notched two aces on a first set-opening 6-0 run for UAlbany. After Katy Henchy got a kill, a new run started following a Taylor Robinson kill. The run continued to 8-0, including three Evering kills and two Leindecker aces, for a 14-1 advantage. UAlbany continued its dominant play off the serving of Nina Holmes, using three Dolan kills for a 7-0 sprint. UAlbany took the first set 25-6, its strongest game victory of the season.
Including three Modestow kills and two Hartford aces, the Hawks started the set up 9-2. UAlbany fought back to within three at 10-7 including a couple of kills in the middle. Bridges got a couple of kills to start a run, putting Hartford up by seven. Evering and Robinson each got a pair of late kills, but the Great Danes could not bridge the gap and fell 25-16 in the game as the match evened up at 1-1.
UAlbany got back to work in the third set, starting with the first three points. A couple of 3-0 Hartford runs put the visitors ahead 6-5. After some back and forth, Emily Zimmerman served the team through a 4-0 run to put UAlbany back in front 12-8. Hartford won a couple pairs of points to pull within one at 15-14, later at 17-16. UAlbany notched three kills, adding a Gabrielle Hansen ace, to make it 21-16. Hartford got the next point, then UAlbany responded with the next four to win set three 25-17 and lead the match 2-1.
Another 3-0 run on Zimmerman's serving broke the early fourth set deadlock to make it 7-5 UAlbany. Hartford got the game back to a tie to 8-8, then Okenwa end-capped a UAlbany 5-0 surge to make it 13-8 Great Danes. The teams kept exchanging as each side's front row countered the other's kills. An Okenwa kill and Leindecker ace gave UAlbany an eight-point lead at 23-15. Evering notched two final kills as UAlbany took the game 25-17 and the match 3-1.
UAlbany hits the road for its next two matches, starting with UMBC in Baltimore on Friday, October 7th at 5 p.m.
