By Christian Hince | October 14, 2021
The Great Danes picked up their third straight win Sunday with a victory at NJIT. With the result, UAlbany moved to 3-1 in conference and 7-11 overall while the hosting Highlanders fell to 0-4 in the America East while sitting at just 1-16.
Early in the first set, NJIT found themselves ahead 4-1, before a 4-point Great Dane streak flipped the tables temporarily. The set would rage on back-and-forth until a 16-15 Highlander advantage was wholly overruled by an 8-point UAlbany run. The Danes would hold this lead until the set’s end, winning 25-17.
The second set was also heavily contested, with neither team leading by more than two for most of the match. This lasted until the Great Danes outsized their small advantage at 20-19 with a run of four straight scores. This all but sealed the match. With UAlbany shortly winning 25-20.
The Great Danes opened the third set well, scoring the first point and holding an early 4-2 lead. No team led by more than two points until an attack error by Danielle Tedesco put the Highlanders up 15-12. A couple back-and-forth points later NJIT went on a four-point run that put them up 20-14. This lead turned out to be too much UAlbany, so the Highlanders stayed alive with a 25-18 win.
With momentum in their favor, the Highlanders began the fourth with a 7-4 lead, however this was interrupted by the loss of light in the NJIT gym. When play resumed, UAlbany rattled off three straight points, and would soon use four straight scores to go up 14-11. While the Highlanders would try to keep up for the rest of the set, the Great Danes ended up pulling away for a 25-17 victory, winning the day.
Senior Kamara Kelly led the day on offense with 15 kills. On defense, senior Charlotte Macken led with a team-high 13 digs, while Danielle Tedesco tallied 9 of the team’s 18 blocks.
Coach Josh Pickard was happy with the team’s performance on the road. “This was our first trip to NJIT and they pushed us,” he said. “Each time we are on the court, we see how we can get better and this was no different.”
The Great Danes will stay on the road for the upcoming week, visiting New Hampshire Friday and facing Hartford for a rematch two days later.