UAlbany Plays Final In-Season Tournament With Penn State Classic
Game Notes | Big Ten Digital Network (UAlbany-Penn St. Broadcast)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Great Danes will play in their final in-season tournament of the year, heading down to University Park to play in the Penn State Classic.
UAlbany will take on tournament host Penn State, ranked #1 in the country, on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Recreation Building. That match will be broadcast online on the Big Ten Digital Network. On Saturday, the Danes play Yale at 1 p.m., followed by Eastern Kentucky at 5 p.m.
UAlbany has seen all three opponents before. The Great Danes played Penn St. in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, falling in three. This will be the fourth straight year UAlbany plays Yale. The Great Danes are 4-3 all-time vs. Yale, falling to the Bulldogs 3-0 last year. UAlbany defeated EKU in 2008 in straight sets.
The Great Danes are coming off a trio of defeats in the Carolina Classic. Amanda Dolan made her second All-Tournament Team of the season, while Laini Leindecker earned America East Rookie of the Week.
Penn State is ranked the top team in the country by the AVCA, standing 6-1 with a current four match-winning streak. The team’s top player in kills is freshman outside hitter Paulina Prieto Cerame, who stands with 60 kills. Senior middle hitter Katie Slay is hitting .466 with 47 kills and 31 blocks, while junior setter Micha Hancock has 232 assists, 22 service aces and 23 dump kills.
Yale has won its last two matches and comes into Friday at 4-2. The top threat on the outside is junior Mollie Rogers, who is hitting .270 with 56 kills and 30 digs. The Bulldogs run a 6-2 offense, led by senior Kendall Polan, who has 24 kills, 133 assists and 44 digs, while sophomore Kelly Johnson currently stands with 78 assists and 43 digs.
Eastern Kentucky is 4-6 after winning its first four matches and falling its last six. Standing with 141 kills and 97 digs is senior outside hitter Ashley Edmond, adding 10 aces. Junior outside hitter Alexis Plagens has 123 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Rachel Vick has a team-best 28 total blocks, hitting .203 with 72 kills.
