ALBANY, N.Y. - The Great Danes are on the road for the America East Championship Tournament hosted by Binghamton in Vestal, N.Y..
 
MATCH INFORMATION
 
America East Tournament
SITE: Events Center - Vestal, N.Y.
RECORD: UAlbany 11-14, 5-5 AE
STATS: LiveStats
 
Semifinal #1 - UAlbany at Binghamton
DATE: Friday, November 22
TIME: 4:00 PM
RECORDS: Binghamton 19-9, 8-2 AE
SERIES RECORD: 28-13, UAlbany leads
STREAM: ESPN+
 
Semifinal #2 - New Hampshire vs. UMBC
DATE: Friday, November 22
TIME: 7:00 PM
RECORDS: New Hampshire 16-9, 7-3 AE | UMBC 8-15, 6-4 AE
NEW HAMPSHIRE SERIES RECORD: 34-30, New Hampshire leads*
UMBC SERIES RECORD: 36-16, UAlbany leads*
STREAM: ESPN+ 
 
Championship Match
DATE: Saturday, November 23 
TIME: 4:00 PM
 
*series records against UAlbany
 
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW

• The Great Danes clinched their first playoff berth since 2021 with a win at Bryant on Saturday, November 16.
• Overall, redshirt-junior Shynelle Woroniuk led the team with 3.50 kills per set and freshman Maria Olga Siapani had 9.75 assists per set and a service ace. On defense, redshirt-sophomore Brooke Malek tallied 3.00 digs per set and junior Tori Wilson led with five blocks.

GREAT DANE REWIND

• UAlbany holds an 11-14 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).
• The Great Danes had their first undefeated week of the season with a four-set win over Siena (Oct. 16) and a straight-set win over Bryant (Oct. 18). 
• UAlbany fell to Binghamton (Oct. 25) in three sets but bounced back with a thrilling five-set victory over UMBC (Oct. 27). 
• In their visit to Durham, the Great Danes fell to New Hampshire (Nov. 1).
• The Purple and Gold fell to LIU (Nov. 5) in three sets on the road but bounced back with a sweep at home over NJIT (Nov. 8).
• The Great Danes capped off the regular season with a road win against Bryant (Nov. 16) which cliched their spot in the America East Championship Tournament.
• Shynelle Woroniuk is third in the America East and leads the Great Danes with 3.49 kills per set and 3.87 points per set.
• On defense, redshirt-sophomore Brooke Malek has tallied a team-high 3.69 digs per set.
• Maria Olga Siapani has made a name for herself as the team's starting setter. Siapani is second in the America East with 8.34 assists per set.
• Redshirt-sophomore Gabriella Karman and junior Tori Wilson have totaled double-digit blocks, leading the team with 57 total blocks each.
• Siapani leads the Great Danes with 28 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 BINGHAMTON

• The Binghamton Bearcats closed the regular season with a 19-9 overall record, including an 8-2 mark in America East play.
• The season began with a dominant 3-0 win over Merrimack and a tough 0-3 loss to Toledo (Aug. 30) at home. After dropping another match against Bucknell (Aug. 31), the Bearcats traveled to Villanova on Sept. 4, where they narrowly lost 2-3.
• Binghamton rebounded with a strong showing at the Fairfield Tournament (Sept. 6-7), sweeping Central Connecticut State and defeating Fairfield and Boston College in consecutive matches. A midweek victory over Hofstra (Sept. 11) and a sweep of Rutgers (Sept. 12) highlighted their road success, capped by another 3-0 win over VCU (Sept. 13) in a neutral-site match.
• The Bearcats then faced some tough competition, dropping matches against Cornell (Sept. 18) and West Virginia (Sept. 21), but secured wins over Fordham (Sept. 20) and Le Moyne (Sept. 24).
• Entering conference play, Binghamton found key victories, including sweeps against UAlbany (Sept. 27) and NJIT (Oct. 20), along with wins over LIU (Sept. 29), Bryant (Oct. 6), and UMBC (Nov. 8). The Bearcats had a notable five-set win against Bryant on Nov. 1.
• The Bearcats faced setbacks in matches against UMBC (Oct. 4), Temple (Oct. 9), New Hampshire (Oct. 13), and Colgate (Oct. 16). However, they closed out the regular season strong, beating New Hampshire (Nov. 10), Lehigh (Nov. 13), and NJIT (Nov. 17) to round out their conference play.
• Tsvetelina Ilieva leads the America East with 4.70 kills per set and is second in the America East with 44 service aces.
• Lottie Scully leads the America East as Binghamton's primary setter with 8.73 assists per set.
• Misa Dlouha is second in the America East with 1.26 blocks per set.

SERIES AGAINST THE BEARCATS

• The Great Danes lead the all-time series, 28-13.
• UAlbany squared off against the Bearcats twice last season with Binghamton taking both victories.
• This season Binghamton won both match ups in straight set victories over the Great Danes.
• Outside hitter Shynelle Woroniuk led UAlbany with 10 kills in their match in Vestal while opposite hittier Elisavet Papageorgiou led in their match in Albany with eight kills.

ABOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE

• The New Hampshire Wildcats closed the regular season with a 16-9 overall record and a 7-3 performance in conference play.
• The season kicked off at the LSU Invitational, where the Wildcats faced tough competition, dropping a close five-set match to LSU and another to Troy (Aug. 30), before bouncing back with a 3-2 win over Maryland on Aug. 31.
• At the Harvard Invitational (Sept. 6-7), New Hampshire secured two three-set victories over Merrimack and Stonehill but fell in a tight five-setter to Harvard in the tournament finale.
• The Wildcats continued to show promise at the Texas A&M Invitational (Sept. 13-15), sweeping Louisiana but losing two five-set matches to Texas A&M and Temple.
• Back at home for the Holly Young Invitational, New Hampshire stumbled against UConn (Sept. 19) but found their rhythm, defeating Central Connecticut State (Sept. 20) and Brown (Sept. 21) to finish the event strong. After another victory against Merrimack (Sept. 24), they secured dominant wins over Le Moyne (Sept. 27) and UAlbany (Sept. 29).
• The Wildcats continued their conference play with three-set victories over NJIT (Oct. 6), High Point (Oct. 9), Binghamton (Oct. 13), and later NJIT again (Oct. 27). Despite a few five-set losses to Bryant (Oct. 11) and UMBC (Oct. 20), New Hampshire maintained their form with important wins against UAlbany (Nov. 1) and Bryant (Nov. 3).
• The regular season concluded with a tough five-set loss to Binghamton (Nov. 10) on the road, but New Hampshire ended on a high note with a sweep over UMBC (Nov. 17).
• Hannah Serbousek leads the Wildcats and ranks sixth in the America East with 2.68 kills per set.
• Avery LePore leads the team and is second in the America East with 3.87 digs per set.
• Kelly Kaufman leads the America East with 1.28 blocks per set and a .346 hitting percentage.

SERIES AGAINST THE WILDCATS

• The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 34-30.
• UAlbany faced off against New Hampshire twice last season and UHN was able to take two four-set victories in both matchups.
• The Great Danes and New Hampshire met twice this season with the Wildcats taking two straight set victories.
• Outside hitter Shynelle Woroniuk led among all hitters with 13 kills in the September 29 match and 10 kills on November 1.

ABOUT UMBC

• The UMBC Retrievers finished their regular season with an 8-15 overall record, facing challenges throughout the non-conference but finishing 6-4 in the conference schedule.
• The season opened with a home match against American on Aug. 24, followed by a tough road stretch. UMBC competed in the Purdue-hosted tournament in West Lafayette, IN, where they lost to UC Davis (Aug. 30), Purdue (Aug. 31), and Kansas State (Sep. 1). The struggles continued at the Dayton Invitational (Sept. 6-8) with losses to Bowling Green, Wright State, and Dayton.
• Returning home on Sept. 14, the Retrievers were swept by Lehigh before dropping another away match to Maryland (Sept. 15). UMBC then pushed High Point to five sets but fell short (Sept. 20), before finally securing their first win of the season in a thrilling five-set victory over Princeton (Sept. 21).
• Despite a setback against Pittsburgh (Sept. 25), UMBC picked up a road win over NJIT (Sept. 29) and carried that momentum into conference play, earning three consecutive wins, including sweeps over Binghamton (Oct. 4) and NJIT (Nov. 1), as well as a five-set win over UAlbany (Oct. 6).
• However, the Retrievers faced tough road defeats, including a close match against Bryant (Oct. 13) and another five-set loss to Howard (Oct. 23). A rematch with UAlbany on Oct. 27 ended in another narrow loss.
• UMBC bounced back with a home win over Bryant (Nov. 10) but fell in their final two matches of the season, suffering a sweep against Binghamton (Nov. 8) and another against New Hampshire (Nov. 17).
• Mia Bulisic leads the team and is second in the America East with 3.65 kills per set.
• Aysia Miller leads the America East and the Retrievers defense with 4.35 digs per set.
• Mila Ilieva leads UMBC at the net with 1.00 blocks per set.

SERIES AGAINST THE RETRIEVERS

• The Great Danes lead the all-time series, 36-16.
• UAlbany and UMBC faced off twice last season with each team winning their home matches.
• In a similar fashion, each team won their home matches during their face offs this season.
• Outside hitter Shynelle Woroniuk led UAlbany with 19 kills in the first match up and opposite hitter Elisavet Papageorgiou led with 14 kills in the second match up.

AMERICA EAST TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

• Friday:
  • Semifinal #1 - UAlbany at Binghamton, 4 PM
  • Semifinal #2 - New Hampshire vs. UMBC, 7 PM
• Saturday:
  • Championship Match, 4 PM

UP NEXT: If the Great Danes win in the semifinal on Friday, they will compete in the America East championship for a chance to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
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