The volleyball team is more than ready to leave their three-game losing streak behind in California and start a winning streak at home tonight against Albany.

The Bulldogs (5–4) return to action with a home-and-home series with the Great Danes (8–4), playing tonight in the John J. Lee Amphitheater at 7 p.m. and then traveling to Albany for a second match on Saturday night.

“Albany is a really good team and they’re always highly-ranked in our region,” head coach Erin Appleman said. “I’m excited for the chance to get to play them.”

The Great Danes are coming to Yale after going undefeated at the Lamar Volleyball tournament this past weekend. Tournament MVP Casey Wright will try and build on her offensive performance against the Bulldogs.

“Hopefully we can defend against some of their players,” Appleman said.

With nine games under their belt, Appleman believes her young team is getting better with each game and using the experience to work together on the court.

“Everyone has some ups and downs,” Appleman said. “Preseason is learning to trust your teammates and learning to compete as a team. With a lot of the freshmen coming in and playing tough, they were able to come in and add something right away. Our captain, Kelly [Ozurovich ’11], is doing a good job of leading the team and keeping everyone on the same page.”

With one week until competitive Ivy League play, Appleman and the Bulldogs hope to use the two-series match against Albany as a final tune-up before their first game against Brown (5–6) next Friday.

“I’m pretty happy with where the team is right now,” Appleman said. “We still have one more week to straighten out any wrinkles. We can be ready to go in a week.”

This weekend, the volleyball team will be participating along with the women’s soccer team and field hockey team in the second annual Team Up To Fight Cancer initiative. The teams will be selling t-shirts for $10 at home games and collecting donations throughout the weekend for the Yale Cancer Center.