ALBANY, N.Y. - The UAlbany volleyball team is ready for a split weekend with New Hampshire and NJIT on the horizon.
 
Hosting NJIT for a Sunday evening contest, the Great Danes will hold a Dig Pink event. Pink T-shirts will be available to the first 50 fans at the match.
 
UAlbany's home gym, PE Gym, is down for renovations. All home games during the 2023 season will be played at the Kahl Campus Center on Russell Sage College's Albany Campus. To find the gym, put 44 Academy Rd, Albany, NY into your GPS. For more information, click here.
 
MATCH INFORMATION
 
UAlbany at New Hampshire
DATE: Friday, October 20
TIME: 7:00 PM
SITE: Lundholm Gymnasium - Durham, N.H.
RECORDS: UAlbany 6-12, 1-3 AE | New Hampshire 11-8, 1-3 AE
SERIES RECORD: 30-30, series tied
STATS: UNHWildcats.com
STREAM: AE.TV
 
NJIT at UAlbany
DATE: Sunday, October 22
TIME: 6:00 PM
SITE: Robison Gym at the Kahl Campus Center (Russell Sage College) - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 6-12, 1-3 AE | NJIT 7-12, 1-4 AE
SERIES RECORD: 4-3, UAlbany leads
STATS: UAlbanySports.com
STREAM: AE.TV
 
*records as of 10.18
 
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW

• In the lone match of the week, UAlbany played Binghamton in three close sets.
• In the first two sets, the Bearcats took the win by just two points before closing out the match with a 25-20 set victory.
• Redshirt-sophomore Shynelle Woroniuk led with 13 kills while sophomore Tori Wilson tallied a team-high .375 hitting percentage.
• On defense, junior Sthefany Carvalho totaled 13 digs with three Great Danes notching at least two blocks - redshirt-sophomore Kendall Harris, Wilson, and freshman Campbell Robinson.
• With three out of UAlbany's five service aces, junior Zosia Szczotkiewicz totaled 34 assists.

 
GREAT DANE REWIND

• UAlbany holds a 6-12 record on the season with a 1-3 America East record.
• The Great Danes started their season with a three-set sweep over Syracuse (Aug. 25). 
• Following the win, UAlbany played close sets against Navy (Aug. 26) and UCF (Aug. 27) to close the UAlbany Invitational before falling to 1-5 with three losses at the Chippewa Invitational (Sept. 1-2).
• Going 1-2 at each of their final regular season tournaments, the Great Danes beat Cornell at the Ellis Rowland Memorial Tournament (Sept. 8-9) and George Mason at the Patriot Invite (Sept. 15-16).
• UAlbany won back-to-back matches defeating Siena (Sept. 20) and Sacred Heart (Sept. 27) before beginning conference play.
• After falling to NJIT (Oct. 1) and Bryant (Oct. 6), the Great Danes earned their first conference victory defeating UMBC (Oct. 8) in five sets. 
• Most recently, UAlbany fell against Binghamton (Oct. 15).
• Shynelle Woroniuk leads the team with 3.11 kills per set and 3.43 points per set.
• On defense, Sthefany Carvalho holds the team-high with 3.30 digs per set.
• Senior Elisavet Papageorgiou and junior Zosia Szczotkiewicz lead the Great Danes with 17 service aces each. Carvalho is close behind with 16 while three Great Danes are tied with 12 each - Woroniuk, sophomore Anna Myhal, and redshirt-freshman Gabriella Karman.
• Gabriella Karman has recorded 47 blocks this season (0.96/set), with 10 solo blocks, while sophomore Tori Wilson trails with 35, including five solo.
• The team's primary setter, Szczotkiewicz leads with 397 assists in 44 sets (9.02/set).

 
INTERNATIONAL APPEAL

• The UAlbany coaching staff is constantly at work to represent different cultures and countries on their roster each year.
• The 2023 roster traveled a total of 32,597 miles from their homes to UAlbany.
• Seven different countries and five different states within the USA are included on the 14-person roster.
  • United States
    • New York: Kyrah Wilbur, Nicole Bell
    • Texas: Tori Wilson, Kendall Harris
    • Connecticut: Naliah Grannell
    • Florida: Gabriella Karman
    • Ohio: Campbell Robinson
  • Canada: Brooke Malek, Shynelle Woroniuk
  • Poland: Emilia Kuzniar, Zosia Szczotkiewicz
  • Brazil: Sthefany Carvalho
  • Greece: Elisavet Papageorgiou
  • Ukraine: Anna Myhal

 
IN THE RANKINGS
(As of October 18)

• Six Great Danes hold positions in the top statistical rankings within the America East.
  • Zosia Szczotkiewicz
    • 1st - 9.02 assists/set
    • 6th - 0.39 service aces/set
  • Sthefany Carvalho
    • 3rd - 3.71 digs/set
  • Shynelle Woroniuk
    • 6th - 3.11 kills/set
    • 6th - 3.43 points/set
  • Kendall Harris
    • 8th - .252 hitting percentage
  • Gabriella Karman
    • 7th - 0.96 blocks/set
  • Elisavet Papageorgiou
    • T-9th - 2.72 digs/set

 
WORK AS A TEAM, WIN AS A TEAM
(As of October 18)

• The Great Danes' rank in the conference:
  • 3rd - 14.38 opponent digs 
  • 4th - 1.54 service aces 
  • 4th - 11.46 opponent assists 
  • 4th - 12.64 opponent kills
  • 4th - 2.25 opponent blocks 
  • 4th - 1.84 opponent service aces 

 
ABOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE 

• The Wildcats own an 11-8 record and are 1-3 in conference play. 
• At the Indiana Invitational, New Hampshire split the tournament defeating Southern Indiana (Aug. 25) and Radford (Aug. 26) with a loss to Indiana (Aug. 25).
• Following a four-set victory over Boston College (Aug. 30), the Wildcats earned two wins over Holy Cross (Sept. 1) and Stonehill (Sept. 2) while falling to Harvard (Sept. 2) at the Harvard Invitational. 
• At the Erie Insurance Invitational, New Hampshire won their first two matches, besting Cal Poly (Sept. 8) and VCU (Sept. 8), before falling to James Madison (Sept. 9). 
• Losing to Texas State (Sept. 15) and #20 Kansas (Sept. 15), the Wildcats closed out the Jayhawk Classic with a victory over Bellarmine (Sept. 16).
• After defeating Dartmouth (Sept. 23), New Hampshire started conference play with losses to UMBC (Oct. 1) and Binghamton (Oct. 6).
• The Wildcats earned back-to-back victories against NJIT (Oct. 8) and Merrimack (Oct. 10) before succumbing to Bryant (Oct. 15). 
• Hannah Serbousek leads New Hampshire with 2.65 kills per set and 3.03 points per set. 
• Avery LePore holds the team-high in digs per set with 5.27.
• Kelly Kaufmann has tallied 69 blocks, including seven solo. 
• Camryn Honn and Jessica Shattles have split time as setters. Honn has recorded 326 assists in 60 sets (5.43/set) while Shattles has 315 assists in 69 sets (4.57/set).

 
SERIES AGAINST THE WILDCATS

• The all-time series is tied, 30-30.
• UAlbany faced off against New Hampshire twice last season.
• Initially falling in a close four-set match on September 30, returning student-athlete Anna Myhal totaled a team-high 17 kills while adding nine digs.
• The Wildcats followed up with a five-set victory on November 11. Once again, Myhal notched 17 kills.
• The Great Danes last defeated the Wildcats in three sets for the 2021 America East semifinal victory.

 
ABOUT NJIT

• The Highlanders have gone 8-12 with a 1-4 record in conference play. 
• Beginning the season with losses to Delaware St. (Aug. 25) and Hofstra (Aug. 26), NJIT bounced back to defeat Siena (Aug, 26) and Central Connecticut St. (Aug. 29)
• At the Seton Hall Classic, the Highlanders lost their first two matches to Seton Hall (Aug. 31) and George Mason (Sept. 1) before sweeping Saint Peter's (Sept. 1). 
• After victories against FDU (Sept. 5) and Holy Cross (Sept. 9), NJIT fell to Lafayette (Sept. 13).
• The Highlanders were held winless at the Delaware State Tournament falling to Delaware St. (Sept. 15), Georgetown (Sept. 16), and Penn (Sept. 16). 
• After sweeping Manhattan (Sept. 20), NJIT entered conference play with a loss to Binghamton (Sept. 29).
• Defeating UAlbany (Oct. 1), the Highlanders then lost three straight contests to New Hampshire (Oct. 8), Bryant (Oct. 13), and UMBC (Oct. 15). 
• The Highlanders most recently defeated Saint Peter's (Oct. 18) in straight sets. 
• Adriana Goetz-Morales leads the team with 2.61 kills per set and 2.83 points per set. 
• Doga Emil has recorded 3.65 digs per set this season. 
• Rowan Schreiber has tallied 59 blocks this season, including 12 solo blocks, for a team-high. 
• Juliana Impaglia and Maddie Dennis have split time as setters. Impaglia has recorded 318 assists in 61 sets (5.21/set) while Dennis has 239 assists in 64 sets (3.73/set).

 
SERIES AGAINST THE HIGHLANDERS

• UAlbany leads the all-time series, 4-3.
• The Great Danes faced the Highlanders earlier this season (Oct. 1). NJIT took the three-set victory. 
• UAlbany last defeated NJIT in 2022 (Oct. 2). Recording seven kills and six digs, Anna Myhal helped her team with the three-set win.

 
A NEW BEGINNING

• The Great Danes welcome nine newcomers with five returning student-athletes. 
• Sophomore Anna Myhal returns after having been the only Great Dane to start all 27 matches in 2022. 
• Senior Naliah Grannell and redshirt-sophomore Shynelle Woroniuk return with double-digit starts as a blocker and outside hitter, respectively.
• Sophomores Zosia Szczotkiewicz and Brooke Malek add valuable experience as a setter and on defense, respectively.
• Among the newcomers are mid-year transfers Kendall Harris (Coastal Carolina) and Elisavet Papageorgiou (Eastern Illinois). Gabriella Karman (NC State), Sthefany Carvalho (MSU-West Plains), and Tori Wilson (NC Central) joined the team from their respective schools ahead of the fall semester.
• UAlbany also added four freshmen: Nicole Bell, Emilia Kuzniar, Campbell Robinson, and Kyrah Wilbur.

 
AROUND THE AMERICA EAST

• Binghamton sits at the top as the lone team undefeated in conference play.
• UMBC and Bryant trail the Bearcats tied with three wins each. The Retrievers hold the slight edge with one loss to the Bulldogs' two.
• The remaining three teams - New Hampshire, UAlbany, and NJIT - each hold one win.
• The Wildcats and the Great Danes are tied with three losses while the Highlanders round out the conference with four league losses.

 
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK

• Thursday
  • Binghamton at UMBC, 5 pm
• Friday
  • UAlbany at New Hampshire, 7 pm
• Sunday
  • Bryant at UMBC, 1 pm
  • NJIT at UAlbany, 4 pm

 
UP NEXT: Facing Binghamton (Oct. 27) and Bryant (Oct. 29), the Great Danes will continue on the road for two matches.
 
For more information on the University at Albany volleyball team, follow the squad's official social media accounts shown below.
Twitter - @ualbanyvb
Instagram & Threads - @ualbanyvb
Facebook – facebook.com/UAlbanyVB