SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant volleyball team squares off against the UAlbany Great Danes on Friday night in the America East semifinal round.

The tournament will be hosted by the No. 1 seed UMBC. Bryant earned the title of co-regular season champions of the America East with a sweep over NJIT on Friday and a loss by UMBC.

The Bulldogs finished the season with seven conference wins, tied with UMBC and earned the No. 2 seed for the America East tournament. The seven wins marks the most America East regular season conference wins in program history. It was the first time in program history Bryant won the America East regular season title. The Bulldogs are searching for their first America East tournament championship.  

The Bulldogs racked up several end of season awards. Arianna Ugolini was named America East Player of the Year and was selected to the America East All-Conference First Team for the third consecutive season. It marks the first time Bryant has received a Player of the Year award in the Division I era.

Brookelyn Talmadge was selected to the All-Conference Second Team for the first time in her career. Kaitlin Curran and Ruth Ochelli were selected to the All-Rookie team.

Opponent: No. 3 seed UAlbany (13-11, 6-4 America East)
Location: Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena, Baltimore, Md.
First Serve: 8:00 PM
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: Sidearm
Match Notes: Bryant-UAlbany (Nov. 21)

Series History:

• Bryant is 5-4 against UAlbany.
• The Bulldogs won the first meeting in Smithfield back on September 28^th, 3-1 in the conference opener. Arianna Ugolini recorded a game-high 15 kills and Madison Koeller tallied a game-high 45 assists in the victory.
• UAlbany completed the reverse sweep against Bryant in the last meeting at home. Shynelle Woroniuk posted 13 kills, and Kendall Harris added 12 kills in the win for the Great Danes.
• The Great Danes have won three out of the last four meetings against the Bulldogs.
• This marks the first-ever postseason meeting between Bryant and UAlbany.

Bryant Notes and Notables:

• Bryant makes their return to the America East postseason.
• The Bulldogs have won 13 out of their last 17 matches dating back to September 17^th.
• Bryant is coming off a win in straight sets over NJIT on Friday night. Arianna Ugolini finished with a game-high 18 kills. Kaitlin Curran also added 11 kills and had no errors, hitting .789. She now ranks second in Bryant's Division I history in attack percentage for a single game. Carrina Barron posted a game-high 14 digs and three aces.
• The Bulldogs lead the America East in hitting percentage (.229), assists/set (12.07), kills/set (13.29), and service aces/set (2.02).
• Brookelyn Talmadge leads the conference in hitting percentage (.419). London Hunt ranks third in hitting percentage (.347).
• Madison Koeller ranks second in the conference in assists/set (8.57).
• Arianna Ugolini leads the conference in kills/set (3.94), points/set (4.50), and service aces (43).
• Carrina Barron ranks fourth in the conference in digs/set (3.84).

About the Great Danes:

• UAlbany snapped a two-game losing streak with a sweep over UMBC on Friday night. Shynelle Woroniuk finished with a game-high 12 kills. She ranks second in the conference in kills/set (3.84), earning All-Conference First Team honors. 
• The Great Danes lead the conference in digs/set (16.15) and rank second in service aces/set (1.77).
• Maria Olga Siapani leads the conference in assists/set (9.08), earning All-Conference First Team honors. 
• Gabriella Karman earned All-Conference Second Team honors, ranking fourth in the conference in hitting percentage (.345). 
• Last season, UAlbany fell to UNH 3-1 in the America East championship.