SCORE: New Hampshire 3, UAlbany 1
LOCATION: Dr. Bai Lee Court - Vestal, N.Y.
RECORDS: UAlbany 12-15, 5-5 America East | New Hampshire 18-9, 7-3 America East
SHORT STORY: The Great Danes opened with a fire and battled until the very end but it was the higher-seeded New Hampshire taking home the America East Championship win, Saturday evening.
COACH JOSH PICKARD: "The team worked very hard this year and we only came up a bit short. We talked all year about getting better every day and I'm proud of how they did that. Kudos to our seniors for helping take the program back to the finals and doing everything they could to leave a lasting mark on UAlbany volleyball."
KEY STATS
- Redshirt-junior Shynelle Woroniuk tallied her second consecutive double-double with 18 kills and 13 digs.
- Three additional Great Danes totaled double-digit digs as the team earned a season-high for digs in a single four-set match (76). Redshirt-sophomore Brooke Malek (17) led with Woroniuk, freshman Maria Olga Siapani (11), and senior Sthefany Carvalho (10) following.
- Middle blockers Tori Wilson and Gabriella Karman compiled a team-high five blocks, including one solo, each.
- Redshirt-junior Kendall Harris added 13 kills and three blocks.
- Three Great Danes served two aces - Woroniuk, Karman, and freshman Kiki Provatas.
- Siapani served as the primary setter for the entirety of the match for 39 assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- UAlbany came out of the gates with a fire. The Great Danes opened with six unanswered points, including three kills from Kendall Harris.
- Back-and-forth action ensued as New Hampshire gradually closed the scoring gap. The closest the Wildcats got was down by two, 14-12.
- The Great Danes extended their lead to six with a 5-1 scoring run.
- After New Hampshire tried to come back, UAlbany closed the set with five consecutive points to win, 25-15.
- The Wildcats gained the lead early in the second set.
- Up 9-8, New Hampshire tallied a 4-0 scoring run to take a 13-8 advantage.
- The Great Danes fought back with five kills for six points to be down by just one, 16-15.
- Five consecutive points from the Wildcats made it a 21-15 set but once again UAlbany came back.
- UNH held a small lead, 24-22, before tying the match, 1-1, with the 25-22 set win.
- The third set began with both teams trading points.
- A small three-point scoring run gave the Great Danes the largest lead of the set, 13-9.
- New Hampshire came back to tie it at 14 before taking a 19-17 lead.
- The back-and-forth nature of the set continued but it was the Wildcats coming away with the set-three win, 25-22.
- UAlbany opened the fourth, and what proved to be final, set with a 5-2 scoring run before extending its advantage to 9-4.
- After the Great Danes took a 16-8 lead, New Hampshire scored six unanswered points to make it 16-14.
- With another five consecutive points, the Wildcats held a 20-18 lead.
- UNH was up, 24-21, when UAlbany made one last two-point run to make it a one-point set.
- The Wildcats finished the contest with the final point to win the set, 25-23, and the match, 3-1.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
- Kendall Harris and Shynelle Woroniuk were named to the America East All-Tournament Team.
- Both hitters led the team throughout the weekend in kills.
- Harris totaled 29 kills while Woroniuk led overall with 36 total (18 each match).
- Woroniuk also notched a double-double in both tournament matches. She tallied 26 digs with 13 in each match.
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