Volleyball Score: UAlbany 3, UMass Lowell 1 (25-16, 25-22, 23-25, 25-23)
Location: Albany, N.Y. – University Gym
Records: UAlbany (2-13, 2-1 AE), UMass Lowell (5-11, 0-3 AE)
Short Story: After dominating set one, the UAlbany volleyball team pulled out two of three successive competitive sets to defeat UMass Lowell in four.
Key Stats:
- UAlbany: Aquabata Okenwa had her second straight double double, hitting .378 with 16 kills and 14 digs. Kelly Cameron also had a double double for the second straight match with 38 assists and 20 digs while Titiana Tiangco and Chloe Evering had 14 and 13 kills respectively.
- UMass Lowell: Katherine Claybaugh notched 21 kills and 16 digs for a double double while Lade Adeniyi got seven kills and four blocks.
- Five different UAlbany players had at least 10 digs, led by Nicole Otero with 24.
Set Situations:
- UAlbany allowed back-to-back points just twice in the first set, never trailing thanks to 3-0 runs off Nicole Otero's and Kelly Cameron's serving and winning 25-16.
- With UAlbany down 22-21, a UML service error, an Aquabata Okenwa kill and two UMass Lowell attack errors off Emily Zimmerman's serving led the Great Danes to a three-point game win 25-22.
- UML won five of the final six points to come back and take set three 25-23.
- UAlbany lost a seven-point lead in the fourth set, but won the final two points, finishing with an Okenwa kill to take the game 25-23.
Quote: “This was a good result off a quick turnaround from last night. Our defensive kids did a great job, and we had some critical subs that did great. Lowell is a tough team that made great adjustments, fortunately, we persevered.” – UAlbany head coach MJ Engstrom
Recap: The UAlbany volleyball team bounced back on Saturday with a four-set victory over UMass Lowell to complete the conference-opening homestand.
UAlbany took an early advantage in set one and never trailed. An early 3-0 run off Nicole Otero's serving, capped by an ace, made it 8-4, with another run started by Kelly Cameron getting a kill and continuing with serving to set the score at 11-5. UAlbany only gave up back-to-back points twice in the rest of the set, with multiple kills from Chloe Evering and Okenwa leading to a 25-16 set victory.
Winning five of six points, UML had an early 13-10 advantage in set two. Okenwa and Evering got more kills, but UML held the lead 20-16. UAlbany rallied for a tie at 21-21 with kills from three different players. After a UML point and service error, Emily Zimmerman entered and served UAlbany through the set win as the Great Danes finished with a 4-0 run to win 25-22.
The teams battled back and forth as UAlbany used five Tatiana Tiangco kills to keep pace with UML at 11-11, later using two aces from Nina Holmes to lead 15-14. Another Tiangco kill helped UAlbany lead 21-19. Including two kills and two blocks, UML rallied to take five of the final six points to win set three 25-23 and force a fourth game.
Finished by two Evering kills, UAlbany led 8-2 early in the fourth set. UML got back to within one at 10-9, including two kills by Katherine Claybaugh. UAlbany built back the lead with a 5-0 streak off Gabrielle Hansen's serving to go up 22-15. Using two aces and three blocks, UML got to a tie at 23-23, leading UAlbany head coach MJ Engstrom to call a timeout. After a UML service error, Okenwa buried a kill to give the set to UAlbany at 25-23 and the match in four.
UAlbany will be on the road for the next match, taking on Hartford in Connecticut on Friday, October 6th at 7 p.m.
