ALBANY, N.Y. - The Great Danes are gearing up for their Serve for a Cure Week where they will be raising awareness for blood cancer and breast cancer.
 
The UAlbany and Siena volleyball programs are coming together in support of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Light the Night event. While we may be opponents on the court, our programs are teammates when it comes to knocking out cancer. For more information click here.
 
During the annual Dig Pink Night, UAlbany volleyball is joining forces with the Side-Out Foundation to help fuel a groundbreaking research program focused on patients battling metastatic breast cancer - the most challenging form of the disease and, tragically, the area that receives the least research funding. Wear pink to Friday's match to show your support! For more information click here.
 
MATCH INFORMATION
 
UAlbany at Siena
DATE: Wednesday, October 16
TIME: 6:00 PM
SITE: UHY Center - Loudonville, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 6-11, 1-3 AE | Siena 4-14, 3-4 MAAC
SERIES RECORD: 15-4, UAlbany leads
STATS: LiveStats
STREAM: ESPN+
 
UAlbany vs. Bryant
DATE: Friday, October 18
TIME: 6:00 PM
SITE: PE Gym - Albany, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 6-11, 1-3 AE | Bryant 16-5, 3-1 AE
SERIES RECORD: 4-1, Bryant leads
STATS: LiveStats
STREAM: AE.TV

*records as of 10.15
 
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW

• The Great Danes swept NJIT during their conference match in Newark on Friday, October 11.
• In the three-set victory, redshirt-junior Shynelle Woroniuk led with 15 kills and freshman Maria Olga Siapani had 34 assists and three service aces. On defense, redshirt-sophomore Brooke Malek tallied 17 digs, and sophomore Campbell Robinson and Siapani led with three blocks each.

GREAT DANE REWIND

• UAlbany holds a 5-11 record on the season.
• The Great Danes started 2024 with a three-set sweep against NDSU (Aug. 30) but fell to UIC (Aug. 30) and FGCU (Aug. 31) at the FGCU Hilton Garden Inn Fort Myers Classic.
• The Purple and Gold hosted the UAlbany Invitational and went 2-1 with back-to-back wins against Iona (Sept. 6) and FDU (Sept. 7). 
• UAlbany battled at the Dog Pound Challenge (Sept. 13-14) but fell in three matches.
• At the UniWyo Invite (Sept. 20-21), the Great Danes fell to Utah (Sept. 20) and Wyoming (Sept. 20) but went on to sweep Coppin State in three sets (Sept. 21).
• In their first conference week of the season, the Great Danes fell in three sets to Binghamton (Sept. 27) and New Hampshire (Sept. 29).
• UAlbany defeated Le Moyne in a dominating four-set victory (Oct. 2).
• The Great Danes started their road trip with a match against UMBC (Oct. 6) and fell in five sets.
• The Purple and Gold swept NJIT in Newark in their first conference win of the season (Oct. 11).
• Shynelle Woroniuk leads the Great Danes with 3.58 kills per set and 3.94 points per set.
• On defense, redshirt-sophomore Brooke Malek has tallied a team-high 3.98 digs per set.
• Maria Olga Siapani has made a name for herself as the team's starting setter. Siapani leads the America East with 8.40 assists per set.
• Redshirt-sophomore Gabriella Karman has totaled double-digit blocks, leading the team with 49 total blocks.
• Siapani leads the Great Danes with 19 service aces for the Great Danes.

BUILDING ON GREATNESS

• The Great Danes welcome six newcomers with eleven returning student-athletes. 
• Senior Zosia Szczotkiewicz returns after being named the America East Setter of the Year and America East Second Team All-Conference.
• Junior Anna Myhal and graduate student Elisavet Papageorgiou both return after having been the only Great Danes to start all 25 matches in 2023. 
• Redshirt-junior Shynelle Woroniuk and Sthefany Carvalho add valuable experience as team leaders in points and digs as an outside hitter and the team's libero, respectively.
• Among the newcomers is mid-year transfer Dora Filipovic who joined the team after two successful seasons in the NJCAA.
• UAlbany added five freshmen: Maria Olga Siapani, Kiki Provatas, Kasia Barletta, Nia Gibson, and Sabrina Kinkaid.

INTERNATIONAL APPEAL

• The UAlbany coaching staff is constantly at work to represent different cultures and countries on their roster each year.
• The 2024 roster traveled a total of 43,861 miles from their homes to UAlbany.
• Eight different countries and five different states within the USA are included on the 17-person roster.
  • United States
    • New York: Kasia Barletta, Sabrina Kinkaid
    • Texas: Tori Wilson, Kendall Harris
    • Maryland: Nia Gibson
    • Florida: Gabriella Karman, Kiki Provatas
    • Ohio: Campbell Robinson
  • Canada: Brooke Malek, Shynelle Woroniuk
  • Poland: Emilia Kuzniar, Zosia Szczotkiewicz
  • Brazil: Sthefany Carvalho
  • Greece: Elisavet Papageorgiou
  • Ukraine: Anna Myhal
  • Cyprus: Maria Olga Siapani
  • Croatia: Dora FIlipovic

ABOUT SIENA

• The Siena Saints are 4-14 on the season so far.
• The Saints opened their season at the Skyhawk Invitational where they fell in four sets to Holy Cross (Aug. 30) and Purdue Fort Wayne (Aug. 31). They secured their first victory with a straight-set win over Stonehill (Aug. 31).
• Siena then traveled to the Red Flas Classic where they lost close five-set matches to Mercyhurst (Sep. 6) and Penn (Sep. 7), followed by a straight-set loss to Saint Francis (PA) (Sep. 7).
• Returning home to host the Siena Saints Invitational, Siena faced Syracuse (Sep. 12), Idaho (Sep. 13), and NJIT (Sep. 14), losing all three matches, including a straight-set defeat to NJIT.
• The Saints continued their struggles at the Dartmouth Invitational after falling to Providence (Sep. 21) and Dartmouth (Sep. 22). 
• Siena dropped another close match to Canisius (Sep. 28) in five sets before losing in straight sets to Niagara (Sep. 29).
• The Saints returned home for conference play and secured back-to-back victories after defeating Marist (Oct. 2) in five sets and Manhattan (Oct. 5) in four sets. However, the team lost another close five-set match to Iona (Oct. 6).
• On the road, Siena swept Saint Peter's (Oct. 12) in straight sets but ended their weekend with a straight-set loss to Rider (Oct. 13).
• Sara Wagner leads with 3.22 kills per set for the Saints.
• Grace Wilhelm leads with 2.40 digs per set.
• Sina Torolsu leads with 55 blocks and 28 service aces.

SERIES AGAINST THE SAINTS

• The Great Danes hold a 15-4 lead over Siena in the all-time series.
• UAlbany currently has a five-match win streak against the Saints.
• In their last matchup, UAlbany defeated Siena in three sets. Redshirt-junior Shynelle Woroniuk led with 10 kills in the Great Danes' victory. 

ABOUT BRYANT

• The Bryant Bulldogs are 16-5 on the season so far.
• The Bulldogs opened their season at the FAU Tournament where they secured a five-set victory against Florida Atlantic (Aug. 30), but later fell to Ball State (Aug. 30) in straight sets. They bounced back the next day with a sweep of Seton Hall (Aug. 31).
• After returning home Bryant swept Stonehill (Sep. 4) before hosting the Ocean State Cup where the Bulldogs took a four-set win over Rhode Island (Sep. 6). After a straight-set loss to Brown (Sep. 7), they rebounded with a 3-1 victory over Providence College (Sep. 7).
• Bryant continued their strong form with a sweep of Holy Cross (Sep. 11) on the road, and at the West Point Tournament, they secured wins over Sacred Heart (Sep. 13), Hofstra (Sep. 14), and Army West Point (Sep. 14).
• Back at home, the Bulldogs earned a 3-1 win over Merrimack (Sep. 17).
• At the Kaiser Classic, Bryant picked up a win against Long Island (Sep. 20) but suffered straight-set losses to Iona (Sep. 20) and a close five-set defeat to St. John's (Sep. 21).
• The Bulldogs returned home to sweep Central Connecticut (Sep. 24), NJIT (Sep. 27) and beat Dartmouth (Sep. 28) in four sets.
• Their winning streak was interrupted with a road loss to Binghamton (Oct. 6), but Bryant bounced back at home with a five-set win against New Hampshire (Oct. 11) and another five-set victory over UMBC (Oct. 13).
• Aubrey LaPour leads with 3.50 kills per set.
• Carrina Barron leads the Bulldogs with 3.92 digs per set.
• Brookelyn Talmadge leads at the net with 68 blocks.

SERIES AGAINST THE BULLDOGS

• With a 4-1 advantage, Bryant leads the all-time series.
• UAlbany earned their first win over Bryant in 2019 in a three-set sweep. 
• The Great Danes clashed with the Bulldogs twice in the 2023 season, falling in both contests. 

AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK

• Wednesday:
  • UAlbany at Siena, 6 PM
  • Coppin State at UMBC, 6 PM
  • Binghamton at Colgate, 7 PM
• Friday:
  • Bryant at UAlbany, 6 PM
• Sunday:
  • NJIT at Binghamton, 1 PM
  • New Hampshire at UMBC, 1 PM

UP NEXT: Following their match against Bryant, the Great Danes will host Binghamton (Oct. 25) and UMBC (Oct. 27) for their International Students Night and Spooky Sunday.

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