Volleyball Clinches America East Three-Peat, Tops UAlbany in Four Sets

Saturday, November 21

Durham, N.H.

5 PM

University of New Hampshire

21-8, 11-1AE

University at Albany

17-9, 11-1AE

UAlbany

New Hampshire

Photo by: Ryan Szepan

Volleyball Clinches America East Three-Peat, Tops UAlbany in Four Sets

11/21/2015 8:39:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

DURHAM, N.H. -- The University of New Hampshire volleyball team, led by Most Outstanding Player Tori Forrest (Powder Springs, Ga.), earned its third straight America East Championship and sixth in program history, defeating the University at Albany in four sets Saturday evening at Lundholm Gymnasium.

New Hampshire, the tournament top seed by virtue of an 11-1 America East record, registered its fifth straight win to improve to 21-8 overall. UAlbany, the second seed with an 11-1 conference mark, ends the season at 17-9. UNH captures its first-ever three-peat in program history.

The set scores were 25-22, 23-25, 25-23 and 25-21.

Forrest engineered her team-leading 12th double-double, notching 24 kills and 14 digs on the strength of a .327 hitting percentage. Her 24 terminations were a season-high.

Seniors Cassidy Croci (Sylvania, Ohio) and Madison Lightfoot (Clarkston, Mich.) joined Forrest on the conference All-Championship Team. Croci hit .294 in the match, landing eight kills. Lightfoot, who notches her second straight appearance on the All-Championship Team, helped hold UAlbany to an .188 hitting percentage by recording 22 digs on the backline.

Junior setter Keelin Severtson (Delray Beach, Fla.) orchestrated the offense to a .273 hitting percentage, dishing out a career-high 60 assists. The America East Setter of the Year also turned in five digs, two service aces and a block solo. Demi Muses (Orangevale, Calif.), the conference's co-Player of the Year, engineered a double-double performance of 13 kills and 23 digs while racking up four blocks.

Juniors Laini Leindecker and Mikala McCauley each tallied double-double performances. Leindecker, the other America East co-Player of the Year, led the Great Danes with 19 kills and 14 digs. McCauley piloted the attack with 42 assists while logging 18 digs. Junior right side hitter Amanda Dolan notched 11 kills while chalking up four blocks. Nicole Otero, the league's Defensive Specialist of the Year, shoveled out 22 attacks to anchor the backline.

The two sides traded blows out of the chute, but the Great Danes were first to hit the 10-point threshold with a 10-8 edge. A Leindecker kill followed by two errors from UNH gave UAlbany a 13-8 lead as the blue and white opted to use a timeout. Breaking out of the huddle, UAlbany staved off New Hampshire's surge as the score increased to 19-14. After a second timeout by UNH, the home team retaliated with a 6-1 run, highlighted by a pair of service aces from Severtson. The two sides traded the next four points as the score was tangled at 22 apiece. New Hampshire posted back-to-back kills from senior outside hitter Maggie Kenney (Merrimack, N.H.) and Forrest, forcing set-point. An attack error by the Great Danes cemented set one for the Wildcats.

Determined to even the match, the Great Danes came out swinging in set two. The visitors landed five kills quickly to engineer a 9-6 start out of the gate. UAlbany extended its lead to 12-7, but was whittled down two at the 12-10 mark on the strength of kills from Forrest, Muses and Severtson. Following a huddle by the Great Danes, the visitors were advantageous of hitting errors by the Wildcats, rebuilding their lead to five points at 17-12. However, the Wildcats erased the Great Danes' lead to knot the score at 19-19 with a 7-2 run, capped out by blocks from Muses and Forrest. UAlbany never relinquished its lead, carving out a three-point edge at 23-20 late in the stanza. Forrest made it a one-point contest, recording a pair of kills and a service ace. Despite her efforts, timely kills from Leindecker evened the match score at 1-1 entering intermission.

UNH and UAlbany found themselves in a highly contested third frame, featuring nine tie scores and six lead changes. New Hampshire's offense clicked on all cylinders in the set, posting a .586 hitting percentage and seven kills from Forrest. Neither squad could establish a lead greater than one point until a service error by the Great Danes followed by a solo block from Muses gave the Wildcats a 15-13 advantage. UNH preserved its lead despite a timeout by UAlbany as Forrest registered timely kills to increase the home team's advantage to 22-18. The Great Danes slashed the lead down to one, highlighted by a service ace from McCauley. New Hampshire opted to use a timeout in order to strategize for a late-set surge. The 'Cats turned to senior outside Abby Brinkman (Brecksville, Ohio) to jumpstart the offense as she struck back-to-back kills. The Great Danes pulled within a point off a couple of errors by the Wildcats, but Muses slammed the door with a kill to give the home team a 2-1 lead to enter the fourth set.

New Hampshire started the deciding set strong, bolting out to a 12-5 lead out of the chute. UAlbany halted the scoring with back-to-back aces from Gabrielle Hansen as the visitors looked up at a 12-8 deficit. After a timeout by UNH, the blue and white came out swinging by recording four kills in the next six exchanges to take a 16-10 lead. The Great Danes would not fade away quietly despite facing a six-point deficit. UAlbany clawed its way back into the contest, constructing a 7-1 run and knotting the score at the 17 and 18 marks. Despite the late surge by the Great Danes, the Wildcats never conceded the lead. Sophomore outside hitter Courtney Bowman (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) reversed the momentum with a pair of kills combined with a hitting error by UAlbany, giving UNH a 21-18 edge late in the stanza. Kills from Forrest and Muses allowed New Hampshire to register match point. A service error by the Great Danes was the deciding point, clinching the Wildcats' third straight conference crown at Lundholm Gymnasium.

The Wildcats will find out who their next opponent will be in the 2015 NCAA Division I Volleyball Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 29 (9:00 p.m.). The selection show will be televised on ESPNU.

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