SCORE: Sacred Heart 3, UAlbany 2 (25-16, 25-23, 21-25, 22-25, 17-15)
LOCATION: Robison Gym at the Kahl Campus Center (Sage College) - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 6-15, 1-3 America East | Sacred Heart 14-8, 6-1 NEC
SHORT STORY: After dropping the first two sets, the Great Danes came back to push the game to five sets in a 3-2 loss, Tuesday night.
COACH JOSH PICKARD: "I'm proud of the fight by the team tonight. We started a bit slow but were able to make some adjustments and the team really came together."
KEY STATS
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Great Danes tallied the first point of the match and traded points early until Sacred Heart took the first multi-point lead at 9-7.
- The Pioneers took a 15-11 lead, forcing a UAlbany timeout.
- Taking the last two points, the Pioneers closed out the first set 25-16.
- The Great Danes took the early 3-1 lead in the second set.
- After four tied scores, Sacred Heart took a small lead, 12-10. The Great Danes climbed back, building a four-point lead.
- The Pioneers finished the close set, 25-23.
- UAlbany opened the third set with a 4-1 lead before Sacred Heart pulled back to tie the match, 6-6.
- Each team continued back and forth, leaving the match level at 10-10.
- Sacred Heart called a timeout as UAlbany began to pull away with a 14-11 lead.
- The Great Danes continued to build an advantage following the timeout, reaching a five-point lead, 16-11.
- Continuing with the advantage, UAlbany was the first to reach 20 points. The Pioneers closed the gap to 24-21, but the Great Danes held them off to win the third set, 25-21.
- UAlbany started off the fourth set with a 3-1 lead, but it was Sacred Heart pulling away for a 7-4 advantage.
- The Great Danes came back, closing the lead to 11-9, forcing Sacred Heart to call a timeout.
- Following the break, the Pioneers built a four-point lead, which the Great Danes recovered from to the match, 16-16.
- The two teams traded points in the late stages of the fourth set until UAlbany pulled away with a 23-21 lead and eventually closed out the set, 25-22, tying the overall match at 2-2.
- The Great Danes got on the board first to open the final set and had an early 4-2 advantage.
- Keeping the set close, the Pioneers tied the game, 6-6, as the sides began trading points.
- Sacred Heart took a three-point lead to which UAlbany responded, tying the game at 13-13.
- The Great Danes pushed to complete the comeback, but Sacred Heart held out, securing the final set, 17-15, and winning the match in five sets.
NEXT: The Great Danes will continue at home with two conference games this weekend - Binghamton (10/21) and Bryant (10/23).
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
