The Siena Volleyball team battled it out with crosstown rivals UAlbany on Wednesday night, with the Saints bringing each set down to the wire in a 3-0 (27-25, 25-23, 26-24) win for the Great Danes.
 
"I have rarely felt as proud of a team after a loss as I do about this group tonight," said head coach Vilis Ozols. "UAlbany has a powerful, well-coached team and for us to stand up to them and battle them eye to eye to wee points in every set was awesome for our team."
 
Siena was led by eight kill efforts from sophomore Greta Stjade and freshman Sara Wagner. Stjade also cashed in 15 digs for a double-double. Graduate student Emily Wunder and senior Abby Huffman each were solid with seven kills apice, with Huffman adding three blocks.
 
Kamara Kelly knocked down 17 kills for the Great Danes, adding 13 digs for a double-double. Danielle Tedesco was also strong at the net, pumping in nine kills and six block assists. Libero Charlotte Macken had 12 digs and a trio of service aces to supplement Kelly's defensive output.
 
Wunder was a go-to early on, as the Saints started out strong opening up a 14-7 lead in the first set. However, the Great Danes chipped away and eventually tied it at 16-16. From there, it would be a battle down the stretch into a 25-all tie to force extra points. The Great Danes would then get a kill from Oren Abutbul and a block from Grace Cozad and Danielle Tedesco to seal a 1-0 match lead with the 27-25 win in the first set.
 
In the second set, it would be the Saints making their way back into the set. With the score 22-15 in favor of the Great Danes, Siena spun off seven straight points to tie things up at 22-all thanks to a pair of service aces from Meghan Johnsson and a kill from Wunder on the back end. However, a service ace and a kill put UAlbany back in the driver's seat at 24-22, as they would ultimately take the 25-23 win in the set to go up 2-0 on the match. UAlbany finished things off in the third, as Siena played it close but gave up a late lead as the Great Danes took a 26-24 win in the set for the 3-0 victory.
 
The Saints return to action on Saturday, Sept. 25 when they host their first MAAC matchup of the season in the UHY Center against Iona. Opening serve for the match will get things started at 1 p.m.