University of Albany Volleyball Defeats UNH In Straight Sets In America East Conference Opener - UAlbany Sports 2009

Durham, N.H. - Brooke Stanley recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 34 assists and 13 digs to lead UAlbany to a 3-0 win over New Hampshire in America East Conference volleyball action at Lundholm Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon. The Great Danes took the win in their conference opener with scores of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-14.

UAlbany jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead in the first set, getting two kills from Casey Wright and a service ace from Laura Livergood, while also taking advantage of several New Hampshire hitting errors. The Great Danes continued to build their lead, getting up 10-4 on back-to-back kills by Hillary White. Valerie Sourbeer recorded consecutive kills to put UAlbany up 14-6, before New Hampshire's Lindsey Fogarty ended the rally with a kill for the Wildcats. Later in the set, New Hampshire got timely blocks by Fogerty and Justine Elliot, pulling the Wildcats within 22-10. Wright recorded a kill to give the Great Danes control, but back-to-back kills by Kate Uitti and Fogerty kept New Hampshire within striking distance. A ball handling error by UAlbany tied the set at 23-23, but the Great Danes too advantage of two Wildcat hitting errors to take the set.

The second set was back and forth from the beginning, with both teams making several hitting errors in the early going. Despite a UAlbany service error, the Great Danes got consecutive kills from Sourbeer and Wright to take a 17-14 lead. The Wildcats then took advantage of a UAlbany handling error and an attack error to pull within 17-16, forcing the Great Danes to take a timeout. Brooke Stanley helped the Great Danes regroup, and set up a kill for Teresa Coppiellie to put UAlbany back in control. Despite back-to-back kills by Kirsten Bates, the Wildcats continued to struggle with their hitting, and UAlbany went up 21-19 on another UNH error. The Great Danes were at set point at 24-21 on a kill by White, but Fogerty and Bates kept the Wildcats alive with a kills. Sourbeer sealed the set win for the Great Danes, taking an assist by Stanley.

UAlbany built up an early 9-4 lead in the third set with a kill from Kalyn Mostert. New Hampshire battled back, getting three kills from Fogerty and taking advantage of several UAlbany hitting errors, putting the Wildcats up 12-11. The Great Danes used a hitting error by UNH and a kill by Wright to get back ahead by a point before Wright and Mostert combined for a block on Fogerty. After calling a timeout, UAlbany rolled to the end of the set, getting multiple kills and blocks by Wright, along with block assists by Mostert and White. The Wildcats took a timeout on UAlbany's match point at 24-14, but Stanley converted a kill to seal the win for UAlbany.

Wright finished with a team-high 10 kills for UAlbany to go along with four total blocks and a .500 hitting percentage. Coppiellie and White both recorded eight kills apiece, while Coppiellie was strong defensively with 11 digs. Mostert and Laurie Gonzalez also finished with double-digit dig totals, with 10 and 13, respectively.

Bates recorded a team-high 14 kills for New Hampshire, while Fogerty finished with 12 kills. The Wildcats had six total blocks, despite being held to a .152 team hitting percentage. Sara Heldmen had a match-high 22 digs while Jayde Huxtable recorded 12 digs defensively for New Hampshire (8-11, AE 0-2).

UAlbany (10-8, AE 1-0) will return to action on Friday, Oct. 9, visiting Hartford in America East Conference play at 6 p.m.

UAlbany (10-8, AE 1-0) def. New Hampshire (8-11, AE 0-2), 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-14)

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports news