Weekly Award Winners

[Dane Pound]

Colin Disch went from rookie of the week last week to player of the week this week. Blair Buchannan was setter of the week in Volleyball and Kristen Holder was rookie of the week in Field Hockey.

 

I also got an email yesterday from Volleyball Coach Kelly Sheffield. I'm not sure how often he does it but he sent out out an update on the team so far this season and what he expects over the next couple of week. Really a nice idea to show some insight from the coaches to the fans.

[alum73]

Dear Alumni, Friends, and Family,

 

 

 

I am sending you this e-mail to fill you in on how things are going with the UAlbany volleyball program currently and some of the things that are coming up.

 

This weekend we traveled to Brown University and walked away with our first tournament win of the year - beating St. Peter's (3-0), Boston College (3-2), and Brown (3-0). It was the program's first win over all three of those schools. The win against BC was the most challenging of the weekend as for the first time all year the Great Danes were extended to 5 games. All weekend long it was a different player stepping up for us. Junior, Ashley Hunter was named MVP of the tournament after getting 32 kills and hitting .310 against BC. Sophomore, Ashley DeNeal also was named to the 6-member all-tournament team with a strong performance from the libero position.

 

The team has now won 9 of it's last 10 matches, (10-5 overall) including wins over New Mexico (3-0), Seton Hall (3-0), Temple (3-0), American (3-0), and cross-town rival Siena (3-0). Temple and American are both regionally ranked opponents. Temple made it to the Sweet 16 a couple of years ago, and American has been to the NCAA tournament 5 of the last 6 years. The lone loss was to 14th-ranked Arizona in four games in Washington D.C. last weekend. The Danes showed a lot of courage in that match winning the third game 30-26, before finally losing in a close fourth game 28-30. Last week sophomore Blair Buchanan was named America East Setter of the Week following her performance at the America tournament. Other awards earned this season include all-tournament team selections for sophomore Shelby Goldman (Delaware and American), junior Ashley Green (Delaware), DeNeal (Ball State) and Buchanan (American)

 

Coming up next is a match against Syracuse at their place on Tuesday night. Followed by home matches on Friday at against Iona and our first conference match against Binghamton next Tuesday (Oct. 5). Each match begins at 7:00 pm.

 

Also of note, junior Eileen Rodriguez is now 23 aces away from tying a NCAA career record for service aces. She now has 393 and the record of 416 was set back in 1993. NCAA career records in any sport are incredibly rare - only 5 have been set in volleyball over the past 10 years. It's also special for UAlbany and the America East conference, as the conference does not own a NCAA career record in any sport. We'd love to pack our gym when this happens (if it happens at home of course). At her current pace, it should happen within the next couple of weeks. Other than our two home matches within the next week, two other possibilities when it could occur are home matches on October 16th (Sat.) and 17th (Sun) against conference rivals Maine and New Hampshire. Both matches begin at 4:00. This is an absolute huge thing for our sport in this area! To follow the countdown while we are on the road, feel free to check the UAlbany web-site at www.albany.edu/sports or the newly formed UAlbany fan web-site at www.bigpurplefans.com

 

As always, we look forward to seeing you in the stands!

 

Thanks for your support!

 

 

 

GO DANES!!!

 

Kelly Sheffield

 

UAlbany Volleyball

[Dane Pound]

Thanks for posting the letter Alum73. I should have probably done that this morning after mentioning it. I don't know that it will catch on with other coaches but it's a terrific idea.

 

Kind of disappointing. The new "Pablo" rankings on the Kern site came out and while winning 9 of 10 Albany actually dropped 9 spots from last week to 105 from 96.

[UAalum72]

Kind of disappointing. The new "Pablo" rankings on the Kern site came out and while winning 9 of 10 Albany actually dropped 9 spots from last week to 105 from 96.

Our ranking may continue to drop, even if we keep winning, since all of our remaining opponents are lower than we are.

[UAalum72]

Albany beats Syracuse 3-2, Orange's first home loss and first loss to a NYS team.

 

1 ace for E-Rod.

[Dane Pound]

It probably goes without saying but she is #1 in the country (again) in aces and Albany is 9th as a team.

 

I almost spit out my morning coffee yesterday when I read about $iena getting its volleyball games televised on Time Warner. Not really a anti-Siena thing, just that it would be a great thing for Albany to get involved with.

[Dane96]

If I take my name off, DP, should I post the email I sent to the Times Union here? I think it would take the sting out of that article for other fans (I know it probably did for you).

 

It would be my pleasure!

[Dane Pound]

If I take my name off, DP, should I post the email I sent to the Times Union here?

By all means, let everyone read it.

 

BTW, UNH lost to Boston College last night in four games in volleyball. They've also lost to Temple, both teams Albany has beaten. I realize UNH has played a tough schedule but it looks more like NU is the team to beat this year (if Albany isn't).