SCORE: UMBC 3, UAlbany 2 (22-25, 18-25, 25-10, 25-19, 15-10)
 
LOCATION: Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena - Baltimore, Md.
 
RECORDS: UAlbany 14-15, 8-4 America East | UMBC 19-11, 12-0 America East
 
SHORT STORY: The Great Danes dominated the first two sets but first-seed UMBC won the final three sets to take the match, 3-2, Saturday evening.
 
COACH JOSH PICKARD: "The team battled tonight and, unfortunately, came up just short. We came out of the gate strong and couldn't keep that momentum through the match. Congrats to Malea [Stanton] and Oren [Abutbul] on being named All-Tournament. They both played very well and gave us a great chance to win."
 
KEY STATS

• Graduate student Danielle Tedesco led the team with 19 kills and seven blocks.
• Senior Grace Cozad followed with 14 kills while freshman Oren Abutbul tallied 13 kills and three blocks.
• Junior setter Malea Stanton totaled 48 assists and finished second on the team with four blocks, including the only Great Dane solo block of the match.
• Seniors Charlotte Macken (14) and Regan Wright (13) led the defense with their respective dig totals.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Great Danes came out firing on all cylinders in the first two sets.
• The first set began with a UAlbany point before the Great Danes compiled the first multi-point lead, 15-13.
• UAlbany advanced to a five-point lead, 21-16, before taking the first set, 25-22, with a Danielle Tedesco kill.
• The Retrievers earned the first point of the second set but the Great Danes took the lead with the next four points.
• UMBC was unable to tie the score, coming as close as one point, as UAlbany continuously added to its lead. At their highest, the Great Danes held a nine-point lead, 18-9 and 24-15, before taking the second set, 25-18.
• The Retrievers jumped to an early lead, taking the third set, 25-10.
• In the fourth set, UMBC once again grabbed an early lead, holding on to it to eventually hold a 20-9 advantage. 
• UAlbany closed the scoring gap with two four-point scoring runs but the Retrievers took the set, 25-19.
• UMBC tallied an early multi-point lead, 3-1, in the fifth set.
• After adding two more to the lead, 5-1, the Great Danes compiled a five-point scoring run to take the lead, 6-5.
• The Retrievers ended up with the set, 15-10, and the match, 3-2.

 
Malea Stanton and Oren Abutbul were named to the All-Championship Tournament Team for their efforts against New Hampshire and UMBC.

For more information on the University at Albany volleyball team, follow the squad's official social media accounts shown below.
Twitter - @ualbanyvb
Instagram - @ualbanyvb
Facebook – facebook.com/UAlbanyVB