This Week in UAlbany Athletics: September 21

ALBANY, N.Y. - The University at Albany volleyball program hosts their home opener, Friday evening, while men's and women's soccer return home for their respective conference openers. 

Friday, September 25

The Great Danes are back to kick off conference play at their home opener Friday evening (Sept. 26) at PE Gym against UMBC. Junior outside hitter Pinar Erol leads the team with 136 kills on the season so far, and junior libero Kasia Barletta earns the top spot in digs with 161. Following Friday’s match, UAlbany will stay at home to take on FDU on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 27).

UAlbany faces UMBC for the first time since the 2025 America East Conference Championship where the Retrievers took the match 3-1. For the 2026 season, UMBC is coming off a loss against Temple and an overall 4-5 record entering Friday’s matchup. The Retrievers are led by Hannah Dobbs, who has averaged 3.54 kills per set and Hannah Howard, who has recorded 4.35 digs per set. 

The Great Danes lead the all-time series against the Retrievers 37-17.

Saturday, September 26

The Great Danes return home Saturday to open America East play against New Hampshire at Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium. UAlbany enters conference play at 4-2-1 after earning a 1-0 road victory at Central Connecticut State on Sunday. Yuta Kimata scored the game-winning goal against CCSU, while Alexander Genz recorded his third shutout of the season. Ivar Gissurarson is tied for first in the America East in goals with four and leads the conference in goals per game at .571, while his 10 points are tied for first and rank first in points per game at 1.43. Kimata and Gissurarson both lead the America East with two game-winning goals, while Luca Clausse is tied for first in the America East with five assists.

New Hampshire enters the conference opener at 5-2-1 after falling 2-0 at Portland on Sept. 19. Miguel Soto Gonzalez is tied for fourth in the America East in goals with three and tied for fifth in points with eight, while David Davila is tied for third in the conference with three assists.

UAlbany and New Hampshire have met 25 times, with the Great Danes holding an 11-11-3 record. UAlbany won the most recent meeting, 3-1, on Oct. 4, 2025, in Durham, N.H., and carries a one-match winning streak into Saturday's America East opener.

Sunday, September 27

The UAlbany women's soccer program returns home for their home conference opener with NJIT Sunday at 2:00 pm in Tom & Mary Casey Stadium. The Great Danes are currently led by Sydney Kofton, Kiara Levac, and Oluchi Njoku. All three have recorded five points from two goals and one assist this season. Angie McLoughlin follows with one goal and one assist. Sara Tyler has logged the most minutes on the squad with 710. Claudia Volino has started all eight matches for the Great Danes, only missing out on 24:44 of play, where she has tallied 31 saves for a .674 save percentage.

NJIT (4-4-1, 1-0-0 America East) is coming off their first conference match of the season, where they overcame New Hampshire 3-2 in Newark. paige Eckert currently leads the Highlanders with eight points from three goals and two assists. Kirra Hyder follows with six points from three goals. Defenders Merle Hueser and Kennedy Westbrook lead the team in minutes, both have logged a total of 810 minutes. Penelope Krieger (1-3-1) and Kaele Smith (3-1-0) have split time in net for NJIT, but Krieger has recorded the most minutes thus far, totalling 450. Both athletes have tallied 21 saves each, however, Krieger has recorded the better save percentage (.778).

UAlbany leads the all time series between these two teams with a 5-1-2 overall record. The Great Danes have emerged victorious the past two seasons against NJIT, and look to continue their win streak.

The Knights enter Sunday afternoon’s matchup with a 2-11 record after losing to Buffalo 3-0. FDU will be on the road heading to Hackensack, N.J. to face Temple before traveling to Albany to take on the Great Danes. Genevieve Fitch currently leads the team with 101 kills, and is averaging 2.89 kills per set, while Arianna Wood leads the team in digs, averaging 6.27 per set. 

UAlbany has only faced FDU one time prior back in 2024 and took the win in five sets, 3-2.

The Great Danes open their 2026 fall season Saturday at the Mohawk Fall Classic on the Mohawk River in Schenectady, N.Y. The regatta marks UAlbany's first competition of the fall and the team's first opportunity to race close to home.

The 3,700-meter head race begins downstream and finishes in front of the Freedom Park stage, with the final 500 meters fully visible from shore. The USRowing-sanctioned regatta features competition across multiple divisions, including collegiate crews, and is run out of the Jumpin' Jacks Drive-In and Freedom Park location.

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Keep up with all of the latest news, highlights, and insights on UAlbany sports by following the department on X, Instagram, and Facebook. See below for sport-specific accounts.

Men's Soccer - X, Instagram,  Facebook
Women's Soccer -  X, Instagram, Facebook
Volleyball -  X, Instagram, Facebook