LOCATION: PE Gym – Albany, N.Y.

SHORT STORY: The Great Danes wrapped up the UAlbany Invitational with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Canisius. Graduates Elif Yasar and Shynelle Woroniuk were both named to the All-Tournament Team for their standout performances.

COACH JOSH PICKARD: "I'm really proud of the team tonight. Our offense was clicking at a very high clip. As a team, we hit .338, which is the best we have done all year. When we settled down from the service line, we were able to build more of our leads. It was a great way to end our home tournament."

SCORE: UAlbany 3, Canisius 2 (21-25, 27-29, 25-18, 25-23, 15-11)

RECORD: UAlbany 4-2, 0-0 America East | Canisius 1-5, 0-0 MAAC

KEY STATS

• Graduate outside hitter Shynelle Woroniuk posted 23 kills on .396 hitting with 9 digs.

• Redshirt-junior middle blocker Gabriella Karman hit .571 with 10 kills, adding 3 aces.

• Senior middle blocker Tori Wilson tallied 9 kills and a team-high 6 blocks.

• Graduate opposite Kendall Harris added 9 kills and 2 blocks.

• Graduate setter Elif Yasar directed the attack with 39 assists and 5 digs, while Maria Olga Siapani added 15 assists.

• Redshirt-junior libero Brooke Malek led the back row with 13 digs.

• Sophomore defensive specialist Kasia Barletta chipped in 20 digs and 2 aces.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Canisius used a late surge to claim the opening set, 25-21. 

• Despite strong swings from Shynelle Woroniuk and Tori Wilson, the Griffins capitalized on UAlbany errors to take the early lead.

• The second set was a back-and-forth battle that featured 11 ties. 

• UAlbany fought off multiple set points, highlighted by kills from Kendall Harris and Woroniuk, before Canisius closed it out 29-27.

• UAlbany responded dominantly in the third, hitting .387 as a team. 

• Elif Yasar sparked the run with a pair of service aces, and Gabriella Karman put down several key swings to give the Danes a 25-18 win.

• The Great Danes carried the momentum into the fourth, with Woroniuk delivering timely kills and Wilson anchoring the defense at the net. 

• UAlbany edged Canisius 25-23 to force a decisive fifth set.
  In the fifth, UAlbany never trailed, jumping out to an early 7-3 lead behind Karman's serving. 

• Woroniuk sealed the match with her 23rd kill, closing the comeback 15-11.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

• Syracuse: Skylar George, Tehya Maeva

• Cornell: Eliza Konvicka

• Canisius: Bella Mosquera

• UAlbany: Elif Yasar, Shynelle Woroniuk

• MVP: Gabby McLaughlin (Syracuse)