SCORE: UAlbany 3, Binghamton 1 (22-25, 25-12, 25-21, 25-23)
 
LOCATION: Dr. Bai Lee Court - Vestal, N.Y.
 
RECORDS: UAlbany 12-14, 5-5 America East | Binghamton 19-10, 8-2 America East
 
SHORT STORY: Redshirt-junior Shynelle Woroniuk led a "total team effort" as the Great Danes upset the host, Binghamton, in the America East Semifinals, Friday evening.
 
COACH JOSH PICKARD: "I couldn't be more proud of the team and our effort tonight. Even when things weren't going our way, we didn't lose sight of what we were trying to do. It was a total team effort tonight."
 
KEY STATS

• Redshirt-junior Shynelle Woroniuk tallied her sixth double-double of the season with a team-high 18 kills and 13 digs while adding a match-high three service aces.
• Redshirt-junior Kendall Harris and graduate student Elisavet Papageorgiou were close behind Woroniuk with 16 and 14 kills, respectively.
• Senior Sthefany Carvalho led the defensive efforts with 14 digs.
• Along with Woroniuk, redshirt-sophomore Brooke Malek also notched 13 digs.
• Making it four Great Danes with double-digit digs, freshman Kasia Barletta stopped 11 attacks for 11 digs.
• Junior Tori Wilson totaled a team-high six blocks.
• The team's setter for the entirety of the match, freshman Maria Olga Siapani compiled 44 assists and added five blocks.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• UAlbany opened the match with six unanswered points and continued to hold its lead through much of the beginning of set one.
• Binghamton scored five points, and allowed one, to make it a 12-10 game. The teams followed with traded points while the Great Danes continued with the lead..
• Down 21-18, the Bearcats came back with a 7-1 scoring run to win the set, 25-22.
• After the second set began with back-and-forth action, UAlbany tallied a second six-point scoring run, including kills from Kendall Harris, Tori Wilson, and Elisavet Papageorgiou and one team block, to take a 10-3 lead.
• The teams continued to trade points but the Great Danes' advantage eventually grew to 10 points, 19-9.
• UAlbany closed the second set, and tied the match, with three consecutive points, including kills from Maria Olga Siapani and Shynelle Woroniuk, for the 25-12 win.
• The final two sets were much closer in score than the second.
• The Bearcats got off to an early lead in the third but UAlbany made up for it and then some with another six-point scoring run.
• After holding their two-point lead throughout much of the middle of the set, Binghamton tied the score at 18.
• The Great Danes finished it off with a 6-2 scoring run to take the match lead with a 25-22 set three decision.
• In what proved to be the final set, the Bearcats had a large early lead, 10-3.
• UAlbany made their way back, eventually tying the score at 15 after a 7-1 scoring run with six kills and one Shynelle Woroniuk ace.
• The Great Danes added four unanswered points to take a 2017 lead.
• Down by three, 23-20, Binghamton scored three points in a row to tie the score at 23.
• After a UAlbany timeout, the Great Danes returned to the court to score two points and win the set, 25-23, for the match victory, 3-1.

 
NEXT: UAlbany will compete in the America East Championship for the first time since 2021. The Great Danes look to earn their first title in five years (2019).
 
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