By Christian Hince | September 5, 2022
Photo Credit: Jay Bendlin
A Saturday road match against Navy ended with a 3-1 defeat for the Great Danes. The result brought the hosting Lady Midshipmen up to 2-4 on the season so far while UAlbany remains winless at 0-6.
The match opened on a battle of a first set. Neither team led by multiple points until Navy went up 9-7, an advantage which soon closed after the Danes tied it with back-to-back points. Later into the set, an attack error by Navy put UAlbany up 17-16 for the seventh lead change of the set. The Danes stretched this lead a bit, going up 23-19 before a 7-1 burst from the Lady Midshipmen closed the door on round one.
UAlbany had a much easier time in set two, scoring the first five points and never giving their lead up. Navy trailed by no less than three, as the Danes built their advantage into a resounding 25-13 victory.
Much of set three played out in reverse with Navy scoring the first three and not trailing once. Up 23-15 near the round’s end, four straight points from the visiting Danes weren’t enough to stop Navy’s second win of the day, 25-20.
The match’s back-and-forth nature from early on returned going into the final set, with a 7-7 tie being the round’s fourth. A subsequent 7-1 Navy run however put the Lady Midshipmen up by six, something they drew out to a daunting 21-13 advantage. This lead wasn’t safe, however, as UAlbany surged to tie Navy at 23, but it was the hosting team which scored the set’s last two, ending the match.
Alexa Harris led the Danes’ offense with 10 kills and racked up the same number in digs for her first college double-double, also adding a team-high three service aces. Freshman Anna Myhal and junior Sadie Brown followed with eight kills each as Charlotte Macken led the defense with 12 digs. Junior Naliah Grannell led the way on the net with nine blocks, followed by junior Hannah Rowe with five.
Despite Saturday’s result, head coach Josh Pickard left with a positive attitude. “We were presented with a number of opportunities for growth,” he said. “We took some and are still learning from others.”
UAlbany’s search for their first win continues at the Cornell Invitational on Friday when they take on Temple.