Volleyball Update

[Dane Pound]

Dear Alumni, Friends, and Family of UAlbany volleyball:

 

This past week the Great Danes became the first America East Conference team to win three consecutive regular season titles when we defeated Stony Brook 30-24, 30-21, 30-25. We were helped by 40 hitting and serving errors from the Seawolves. The first two games were neck-and-neck until we pulled away at about point 20. The third game they were up big on us before coming back. I was proud of our poise and ability to chip away at their lead to come back and win. The following night we played an out of conference match against a very talented Long Island, (a team that has won the Northeast Conference the past three years) and lost to them 3-2 (27-30, 30-24, 30-23, 26-30, 10-15). It was a very well played match by both teams. They had a very powerful jump server that got hot in Game 5, and that was the difference. Here are senior Shelby Goldman's thoughts: "This weekend was a pivotal one for UAlbany volleyball. We went into this week with the opportunity to clinch a third regular season title and also establish ourselves as one of the strongest teams in New York in a game against LIU. Beating Stony Brook was a great victory for us. We played strong, and despite a tight third game we kept our composure and won a convincing 3 game match. The LIU game was a bit of a let down after the big win the night before, but it was a great learning experience for the team and let us see where we are really at, and where we need to go. Hosting the conference tournament is a great opportunity for us. We are all very excited to have another chance to win a conference championship and are ready to take full advantage of playing at home. We know our gym is one of the hardest to play in for our opponents and we look forward to putting on a show for our fans."

 

We also found out this week that senior Ashley DeNeal was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I Volleyball squad. Ashley currently has a 3.53 cumulative grade point average in a dual major of criminal justice and psychology. Congratulations D!

 

As for the conference tournament, we are hosting Binghamton, UMBC, and Stony Brook on Saturday and Sunday with the winner receiving a bid to the NCAA tournament. This should be an awesome tournament! All four teams absolutely believe they can win this thing. Binghamton has most of their players back from last year's team that won the tournament. They swept us 3-0 earlier in the year, and then we returned the favor a few weeks later with a 3-0 sweep of our own. UMBC, who is in the tournament for the first time, took us to 5 on our own court earlier in the season when we pulled out a 15-13 win in the fifth. And Stony Brook has proven that they enjoy playing in our gym. They beat us here in 5 in last year's conference tournament, and then took us to 5 when they came to town early this season.

 

I'll tell you this, I like the improvements that we are making and I really like how we are competing in practice. This team is very hungry right now and I think we are going to be ready to rock and roll once Saturday gets here. The team appreciates all of the support we've received this season. For those of you that haven't caught a UAlbany sporting event this season, you need to get on campus because the tidal wave of support is incredible! Anyone that's been here for the homecoming football game, our last couple of home matches, or Saturday night's basketball game realizes that there is an amazing energy on campus right now. Hopefully we'll see many new faces standing and yelling in the stands this weekend and continue to show that UAlbany is the class of the conference!

 

GO GREAT DANES!!!

 

Saturday, November 18

 

3:00 PM UAlbany Great Danes v. Stony Brook Seawolves

5:30 PM Binghamton Bearcats v. UMBC Retrievers

 

Sunday, November 19

 

2:00 PM America East Conference Championship