ALBANY, N.Y. - The UAlbany volleyball team will head to UMBC for a rematch of the 2021 America East Championship before hosting Sacred Heart.
 
MATCH INFORMATION 
 
UAlbany at UMBC  
DATE: Sunday, October 16 
TIME: 1:00 PM 
SITE: Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena - Baltimore, Md. 
RECORDS: UAlbany 6-13, 1-2 America East; UMBC 10-5, 3-0 America East 
SERIES RECORD: 34-12, UAlbany leads
STREAM: AE.TV
STATS: UMBCRetrievers.com
TICKETS: UMBCRetrievers.com
 
Sacred Heart at UAlbany   
DATE: Tuesday, October 18
TIME: 7:00 PM 
SITE: Robinson Gym at the Kahl Campus Center (Russell Sage College) - Albany, N.Y. 
RECORDS: UAlbany 6-13, 1-2 America East; Sacred Heart 12-8, 5-1 NEC
SERIES RECORD: 8-3, UAlbany leads
STREAM: AE.TV
STATS: UAlbanySports.com
 
GREAT DANE REWIND 

• The Great Danes opened their home slate with a four-set win over Marist (9/13).
• UAlbany returned from the Cornell Invitational (Sept. 9-10) with two wins and one loss. The Great Danes defeated Temple in four sets before beating the host, Cornell, in five. Colgate took the final match of the weekend in four sets.
• Facing top-tier teams, including #11 Penn State, UAlbany added competition at invitationals hosted by JMU (Aug. 26-27), Navy (Sept. 2-3), and Penn State (Sept. 16-17).
• The Great Danes faced crosstown rival Siena (9/27), winning in four sets, after falling to Chicago State (9/25). In an away match, UAlbany swept Stonehill (10/6) for their sixth win.
• Going 1-2 in conference play, the Great Danes hosted NJIT (10/2) for a victory sweep after a four-set loss to New Hampshire (9/30) and before a three-set loss to new America East foe - Bryant (10/7).
• Throughout the season, sophomore Alexa Harris has come to lead the Great Danes in kills, averaging 3.15 kills per set.
• On defense, senior libero Charlotte Macken leads with 4.30 digs per set. 
• Junior Sadie Brown leads the team in blocks with 37, followed by Harris and sophomore Anissia Wong with 36 blocks. Wong also holds a team-high 11 solo blocks.
• Senior Malea Stanton serves as the Great Danes' setter tallying 543 assists and averaging 9.20 assists per set. 
• Junior Kaleigh Fitzgerald has totaled nine service aces in the last five matches to lead to a team-high 26 aces.

 
ABOUT UMBC

• The Retrievers opened their season at the Cardinal and Gold Classic (8/26-27) beating Villanova, 3-1, before falling to #24 USC and Colgate in three sets each. 
• After a 3-1 loss to American University (9/2), UMBC went on a four-game win streak beating Delaware (9/4), James Madison (9/9), Niagara (9/11), and Old Dominion (9/16). 
• Their win streak was snapped at the VCU Invitational by VCU (9/17) in five sets, which they followed up with a three-set loss to UNC. 
• The Retrievers added two more wins to their record against Coppin State (9/20) and American University (9/28) before conference play began. 
• To start America East play, UMBC picked up wins against Bryant (10/1) and Binghamton (10/7), giving them a record of 2-0. Most recently, the Retrievers tallied a sweep over NJIT (10/14).
• Mia Bilusic leads the team with 4.41 kills per set. 
• Aysia Miller (4.34 digs per set) and Mila Llieva (58.0 total blocks) lead the team's defense. 
• Serin Maden serves as the setter, totaling 594 assists, she averages 10.61 assists per set. 

 
SERIES AGAINST THE RETRIEVERS

• With a record of 34-12, UAlbany leads the all-time series. 
• Most recently UMBC beat UAlbany in five sets, to win the America East Championship. Malea Stanton picked up 48 assists in the match. 
• The Retrievers currently own a four-game win streak over the Great Danes that includes both the 2021 and 2020 (played in the spring of 2021) America East Championships. 

 
ABOUT SACRED HEART 

• The Pioneers opened the 2022 season with a 1-2 record at the Carolina Classic (8/26-27), losing to South Carolina and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. 
• Following that they participated in the UCI Invitational (9/2-3) and finished with another 1-2 record, suffering losses to Dartmouth and UC Irvine before beating Holy Cross with a sweep.
• Sacred Heart hosted an Invitational (9/10-11), opening with a three-set loss to Seton Hall before beating Princeton and Stony Brook. 
• Before conference play began, the Pioneers participated in the Yale Invitational (9/16-17), earning two wins in three sets over Fordham and Villanova, before falling to Yale in four sets.
• Sacred Heart opened conference play with wins over LIU (9/23) and St. Francis College (9/24) before receiving their first loss in the NEC to CCSU (9/30).
• The Pioneers tallied two more conference wins, beating Fairleigh Dickinson (10/7) and St. Francis University (10/8) in five sets each. Most recently, SHU added a sweep over Merrimack (10/14) for their fifth NEC win.
• Before seeing the Great Danes, the Pioneers will host Stonehill College for a 7 pm contest on October 15.
• Camryn Luginbuhl leads the offense with 194 kills.
• Emma Smallcomb (4.54 digs per set) and Reghan Palanchi (73.0 total blocks) lead the team's defensive maneuvers. 
• Totaling 670 assists, Sarah Ciszek serves as the Pioneers' starting setter with 9.05 assists per set. 

 
SERIES AGAINST THE PIONEERS

• The Great Danes lead the all-time series, 8-3.
• Last season, UAlbany defeated Sacred Heart in five sets. Charlotte Macken picked up 31 digs, while Malea Stanton added 12 digs and 60 assists. 

 
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST

• UMBC is at the top of the pack with an undefeated record of 3-0.
• Binghamton follows with three wins and one loss.
• New Hampshire and Bryant sit even with two wins and two losses each.
• UAlbany holds a 1-2 record in America East play.
• NJIT (0-4) seeks their first conference win. 

 
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK

• Sunday
  • UAlbany at UMBC, 1 pm 
  • New Hampshire at Binghamton, 1 pm
• Tuesday
  • Bryant at CCSU, 7 pm
  • NJIT at Hartford, 7 pm
  • Sacred Heart at UAlbany, 7 pm
• Wednesday
  • New Hampshire at Stonehill, 7 pm

 
UP NEXT 

• The Great Danes will continue at home against two conference opponents - Binghamton (10/21) and Bryant (10/23).  

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