ALBANY, N.Y. - After a winning weekend at their home-opening invitational, the Great Danes hit the road to take on Dartmouth, Delaware St., and the host, UConn, at the Dog Pound Challenge.
 
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
 
Dog Pound Challenge
SITE: UConn Vollleyball Center - Storrs, Conn.
TICKETS: UConnHuskies.com
STREAM: UConn+
RECORDS:
     UAlbany 3-3, 0-0 America East
     Dartmouth 2-1, 0-0 Ivy League
     Delaware St. 1-5, 0-0 MEAC
     UConn 6-0, 0-0 Big East

UAlbany vs. Dartmouth
DATE: Friday, September 13
TIME: 4:00 PM
SERIES RECORD: 2-0, Dartmouth leads
STATS: StatBroadcast
 
UAlbany vs. Delaware State
DATE: Saturday, September 14
TIME: 11:30 AM
SERIES RECORD: 0-0, series tied
STATS: StatBroadcast
 
UAlbany at UConn
DATE: Saturday, September 14
TIME: 4:00 PM
SERIES RECORD: 3-1, UConn leads
STATS: StatBroadcast

*records as of 9/12

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW

• The Great Danes had a winning weekend after going 2-1 at their home-opening UAlbany Invitational (Sept. 6-7).
• On Friday, September 6, UAlbany fell in four sets to Central Michigan in the tournament's first match. Later that evening, the Great Danes swept Iona during the grand opening of their newly renovated PE Gym.
• The Purple and Gold played only one match on Saturday (Sept. 7). UAlbany fans packed the stands for a thriller five-set victory over FDU.
• Redshirt-junior Shynelle Woroniuk led the offense with 41 kills (3.4/set) while freshman setter Maria Olga Siapani facilitated 104 assists (8.7/set). On defense, senior Sthefany Carvalho led with 60 digs (6.0/set), and redshirt-sophomore Gabriella Karman led with 13 blocks.

GREAT DANE REWIND

• UAlbany holds a 3-3 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 last weekend and captured back-to-back wins against Iona (Sept. 6) and FDU (Sept. 7). 
• Shynelle Woroniuk leads the America East with 3.55 kills per set and 3.93 points per set.
• On defense, Sthefany Carvalho has tallied a conference-high 5.10 digs per set.
• Maria Olga Siapani has made a name for herself as the team's starting setter. Siapani leads the America East with 8.59 assists per set and leads the team with eight service aces.
• Gabriella Karman has totaled double-digit blocks to lead the team with 19 total blocks.

BUILDING ON GREATNESS

• The Great Danes welcomed 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 DARTMOUTH

• The Big Green are 2-1 on the season after starting 2024 at the Northeastern Tournament.
• Dartmouth fell to FGCU (Sept. 6) in their opening match but won against Lindenwood (Sept. 7) and Northeastern University (Sept. 8) in four and five-set victories, respectively.
• Kauany Gutz leads the team with 4.38 kills per set.
• Hannah Langton holds a team-high 4.15 digs per set.
• Grace Thomas tops the team with 14 blocks.

SERIES AGAINST THE BIG GREEN

• This is the first time that UAlbany and Dartmouth will face off since 2000 when they met at the Maine Invitational. 
• The Big Green took three-set victories in 1999 and 2000 against the Great Danes. Dartmouth leads the series, 2-0.

ABOUT DELAWARE STATE

• The Hornets are 1-5 on the season after two weekends of play.
• At the LD&B Insurance Invitational (Aug. 30), Delaware State fell in all three matches against Stony Brook, James Madison, and Presbyterian.
• Last weekend at the Charlotte Invitational, the Hornets lost to Towson (Sept. 6) before defeating UNC Charlotte that same day but fell to Tennessee Tech (Sept. 7). 
• Alondra Maldonado leads the team with 2.50 kills per set but hasn't played since the first weekend of action.
• Morgan Allen leads the team with 60 digs through 23 sets.
• Martyna Kmuk and Hannah Sanders lead the Hornets with 13 blocks each.

SERIES AGAINST THE HORNETS

•  This will be the first meeting between the Hornets and the Great Danes.

ABOUT UCONN

• UConn remains undefeated after starting their season with two tournaments.
• The Huskies opened the season with a home tournament (Aug. 30 - Sept. 1) where they defeated LIU, Youngstown State, and Sacred Heart.
• At the Ellis Rowland Memorial (Sept. 6-8), UConn swept the weekend after taking down Colgate, Stony Brook, and Buffalo.
• Emma Werkmeister leads the team with 4.29 kills per set and 15 service aces.
• On defense, McKenna Brand owns a team-high 3.38 digs per set.
• Audrey Rome tops the team with 23 total blocks, including four solo blocks.
• Doga Kutlu is the starting setter with 241 assists (10.04 a/s).

SERIES AGAINST THE HUSKIES

• UConn and UAlbany last saw each other in 2021 at the Syracuse Tournament where the Huskies won in five sets.
• The Great Danes took down UConn during their second meeting in 2016 at the Army Invitational. On this day, the head coach at the time, MJ Engstrom became the winningest coach in the program's DI history.
• UConn leads the series, 3-1. 

AMERICA EAST CONTESTS THIS WEEK

• Thursday
  • Binghamton at Rutgers, 7 PM
• Friday
  • NJIT vs. Syracuse, 2:30 PM
  • Bryant vs. Sacred Heart, 3:00 PM
  • Binghamton vs. VCU, 4 PM
  • UAlbany vs. Dartmouth, 4 PM
  • New Hampshire vs. Louisiana, 4:30 PM
• Saturday
  • Bryant vs. Hofstra, 10 AM
  • NJIT vs. Idaho, 11 AM
  • UAlbany vs. Delaware State, 11:30 AM
  • Bryant at Army West Point, 3 PM
  • UAlbany at UConn, 4 PM
  • New Hampshire at Texas A&M, 6 PM
  • NJIT at Siena, 6 PM
  • UMBC vs. Lehigh, 6 PM
• Sunday
  • New Hampshire vs. Temple, 12 PM
  • UMBC at Maryland, 3 PM

UP NEXT: Following the conclusion of the Dog Pound Challenge, the Great Danes head across the country to compete in the UniWyo Invite (Sept. 20-21). UAlbany will face Utah, Wyoming, and Coppin State to complete their pre-conference play.
 
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