UAlbany Volleyball Downed in Three in Home Opener to UNH

ALBANY, New York – The UAlbany volleyball team tried to recover in early set deficits but fell to New Hampshire in three (22-25, 20-25, 21-25) in its home opener on Friday night at the University Gym. 

“We fought to get back into sets with different rotations than we are used to,” said UAlbany head coach MJ Engstrom. “Tonight, we did not execute well against a good New Hampshire team.”

Mikala McCauley earned her third-consecutive double-double with 26 assists, 10 digs and two blocks for UAlbany (6-8, 1-1 AE), while Laini Leindecker had her seventh double-double of the year with 12 kills and 13 digs.

New Hampshire (10-7, 2-0 AE) was led by Demi Muses, who hit .625 with 12 kills and 13 digs.  Tori Forrest finished with 13 kills and five digs.

Set one saw Keelin Severtson serve UNH to a 5-0 lead in the beginning.  Down 10-5, UAlbany took

four of the next five, including an ace by Tatum Jungsten, to pull within two.  UNH got two back, then after some back and forth, a Lyndsey Weiler kill and a Paula Pinto ace put UAlbany back within two.  UNH countered with three-straight kills by Abby Brinkman for an 18-13 advantage. 

UAlbany called timeout to regroup, leading to a pair of 3-0 runs, with Leindecker contributing kills in each, to get the home team back within one at 20-19, later at 22-21.  UNH did not relinquish the lead, getting three of the final four for a 25-22 set one win. 

Down 2-0 early, Leindecker served UAlbany through a 4-0 run, then after a Cassidy Croci kill, Shannon Hurley and Jungsten put down kills for a 6-3 lead.  Two Forrest kills and Madison Lightfoot’s serving sparked a 5-0 UNH run to pull the visitors ahead 8-6, later going up 11-7 off a 3-0 spurt.  A couple of Brinkman errors gave UAlbany two points back, but Muses notched four kills on a 5-0 run to make it 16-9 UNH.  The UAlbany outside hitters attacked, with kills from Leindecker and Hurley getting UAlbany within three, then after a Severtson dump kill, the UAlbany defense held as UNH committed three errors, putting the Great Danes within one at 18-17.  Hurley crushed two kills on the outside to keep pace, but at 20-19, UNH got five of the final six points to take the set 25-20 and go up 2-0.

UNH had a trio of runs of at least 3-0 in the early going of set three for a 10-3 advantage.  Back and forth play commenced as Hurley and Leindecker got kills on the outside for UAlbany.  At 16-9 UNH, four UNH errors, the last two forced by Dolan-Hurley blocking, pulled UAlbany within three.  After UNH went back up by five, Nicole Otero served UAlbany back to within two, including an ace, to 19-17, going to 20-18 after Jungsten kill.  But, UAlbany did not get closer despite two more Leindecker kills as UNH took the game 25-21 and the match in three.

UAlbany will play its next match at home against Hartford on Sunday, October 4^th at 2 p.m.