ALBANY, N.Y. - The UAlbany volleyball team heads to NJIT to open the conference season. 
 
MATCH INFORMATION
 
UAlbany at NJIT
DATE: Sunday, October 1
TIME: 2:00 PM
SITE: Wellness and Events Center - Newark, N.J.
RECORDS: UAlbany 5-9, 0-0 AE | NJIT 6-9, 0-1 AE
SERIES RECORD: 4-2, UAlbany leads
STATS: NJITHighlanders.com
STREAM: AE.TV
 
*records as of 9.30
 
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW

• The Great Danes hosted Siena in a crosstown matchup (Sept. 20). UAlbany defeated the Saints in straight sets.
• Redshirt-sophomore Shynelle Woroniuk led the team with 10 kills (3.33/set) and a career-high six service aces.
• Junior Zosia Szczotkiewicz accumulated a team-best 23 assists (7.6/set). 
• On defense, junior Sthefany Carvalho finished the game with a team-high 12 digs (4.0/set) while redshirt-freshman Gabriella Karman tallied eight blocks, including three solo blocks.

 
GREAT DANE REWIND

• UAlbany holds a 4-9 record on the season.
• 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.
• The Great Danes moved to 1-5 after three losses at the Chippewa Invitational (Sept. 1-2).
• After closing out the Ellis Rowland Memorial Tournament with a split, UAlbany moved to 2-7. The Great Danes' second win came over Cornell in four sets (Sept. 9).
• UAlbany earned their third win in a four-set victory over George Mason (Sept.15) at the Patriot Invite.
• The Great Danes swept Siena in straight sets to win the crosstown matchup (Sept. 20).
• Most recently, UAlbany defeated Sacred Heart on the road (Sept. 27).
• Shynelle Woroniuk leads the team with 3.29 kills per set and 3.67 points per set.
• On defense, Sthefany Carvalho holds the team-high with 3.17 digs per set.
• Senior Elisavet Papageorgiou and Carvalho have totaled 13 service aces each.
• Gabriella Karman has recorded 36 blocks this season (0.92/set), with seven solo blocks, while sophomore Tori Wilson is behind with 25, including four solo.
• Zosia Szczotkiewicz and freshman Emilia Kuzniar have shared time as the team's starting setter. Szczotkiewicz possesses the lead with 256 assists in 29 sets (8.83/set) compared to Kuzniar's 141 in 18 sets (7.83/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 September 30)

• Seven Great Danes hold positions in the top statistical rankings within the America East.
  • Zosia Szczotkiewicz
    • 1st - 8.83 assists/set
  • Kendall Harris
    • T2nd - .308 hitting percentage
  • Sthefany Carvalho
    • 3rd - 3.74 digs/set
  • Shynelle Woroniuk
    • 4th - 3.29 kills/set
    • 5th - 3.67 points/set
  • Gabriella Karman
    • T7th - 0.92 blocks/set
  • Tori Wilson
    • 9th - .231 hitting percentage 
  • Elisavet Papageorgiou
    • 10th - 2.67 digs/set

 
WORK AS A TEAM, WIN AS A TEAM

• The Great Danes' rank in the conference:
  • 4th - 1.59 service aces/set

 
ABOUT NJIT

• The Highlanders are 6-9 on the season with a 0-1 conference record.
• NJIT began its season with three wins in two weeks - one against Siena at the Hofstra Invitational (Aug. 25-26), one in a single match at CCSU (Aug. 29), and one against Saint Peter's at the Seton Hall Classic (Aug. 31-Sept. 1).
• After tallying two wins against FDU (Sept. 5) and Holy Cross (Sept. 9), the Highlanders fell in four-straight contests.
• Before starting the conference season with a loss to Binghamton (Sept. 29), NJIT defeated Manhattan (Sept. 20).
• Adriana Goetz-Morales leads the team with 2.54 kills per set and 2.77 points per set.
• On defense, Doga Emil owns the team-high with 3.09 digs per set while Rowan Schreiber has notched 44 blocks.
• Juliana Impaglia has served as the primary setter with 237 assists in 45 sets. Maddie Dennis follows with 172 assists in 47 sets.
• Four Highlanders have totaled double-digit service aces - Sara Siefert (20), Emil (15), Taylor West (12), and Dennis (10).

 
SERIES AGAINST THE HIGHLANDERS 

• With a 4-2 advantage, UAlbany leads the all-time series.
• In their most recent contest, the Highlanders broke the Great Danes' four-game win streak.
• During the 2022 season, the two teams each won their home match.
• Current sophomore Anna Myhal totaled seven kills, six digs, and one ace in the three-set win over the Highlanders on October 2.
• In the three-set loss on October 30, Myhal led with seven kills and current redshirt sophomore Shynelle Woroniuk added three kills.

 
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

• NJIT, Binghamton, UMBC, and Bryant opened the conference season on Friday (Sept. 29). UMBC and Binghamton won their matches over Bryant and NJIT, respectively.
• New Hampshire leads the conference with a 9-5 record while UMBC follows with seven wins and five losses.
• Bryant and Binghamton are tied with eight losses but the Bulldogs hold the slight lead with 10 wins to the Bearcats' seven.
• NJIT (6-9) and UAlbany (5-9) round out the conference.

 
AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK

• Sunday
  • New Hampshire at UMBC, 1 pm
  • UAlbany at NJIT, 2 pm
• Tuesday
  • Bryant at CCSU, 7 pm

 
UP NEXT: The Great Danes will return home for two home matches - Bryant (Oct. 6) and UMBC (Oct. 8).
 
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