Bryant drops pair in Saturday action

BULLDOGS STUMBLE IN SECOND DAY OF COLGATE CLASSIC, FALL TO SYRACUSE AND UIC

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After winning the season opener Friday night, the Bryant University volleyball team had a tougher go of it Saturday to close out the Colgate Classic, dropping matches to Syracuse, 3-1, and the University of Illinois-Chicago, 3-0.

Freshman Claire Van Dyk (New Richmond, Wis.) once again led the offense for the Bulldogs (1-2), posting team high numbers in each outing for 21 kills on the day, including 14 against the Orange (2-0) in the morning session. Bryant jumped out to a 1-0 edge with a 25-21 set-one victory and forced Syracuse into extra points despite losing the second. But Bryant would fall to its BIG EAST opponent 25-14 and 25-21 in the final two frames for the 3-1 final.

The Orange received 18- and 17-kill efforts from Samantha Clarey and Andrea Fisher, respectively and benefitted from a team .336 attack percentage. Setter Emily Betteridge picked up 40 assists to 37 from her Bulldog counterpart, Jadith Lorenzo (Lawrence, Mass.), while both teams served up seven aces.

For Bryant, senior captain Macy Mitravich (Waimanalo, Hawaii) earned a trio of aces with a match-best 16 digs, while sophomore Elena Lohr (Loveland, Ohio) picked up 11 digs with eight kills and a pair of aces. Juniors Alexandria Clyburn (Cartersville, Ga.) and Kaitlyn Klein (Modesto, Calif.) each added a contest-high four blocks for the Black and Gold.

Against the Flames (2-1) in the afternoon set, the Bulldog offense was stifled by a tough UIC block, one that saw Illinois-Chicago come away with 18 stuffs to Bryant's six. Janise Dismuke put up six on her own for the Flames (1 solo, 5 assists) and added nine kills, while Kelsey Safranek registered 11 kills to lead the match.

A trio of Bulldogs recorded seven kills each, as Clyburn and Lohr matched Van Dyk's side-best total, while senior captain Emily Kaup (Chandler, Ariz.) picked up half the team's blocks with three and added six kills with a .462 attack percentage. Klein also chipped in six kills and served up two of Bryant's four aces on the afternoon en route to her first all-tournament team selection of the year. Mitravich led the Bulldogs with 14 digs for a total of 30 on the day, while Maggie Strus recorded 17 for the match high.

On the two-match day, Van Dyk's 21 kills topped the stat sheet while the rookie finished the tournament with a team-best 34. Klein finished right behind with 30 in three contests (18 on Saturday), as Lohr finished third on the team with 15 Saturday and a tournament total of 22 kills.

In overall tournament action, Mitravich finished with 44 total digs, while Kaup's 12 blocks marked the team best. With 15 kills in 37 attempts, Lorenzo finished the Colgate Classic with a .324 attack percentage and compiled 107 assists, averaging just less than nine per outing.

The Bulldogs return to action August 31 when they travel to Baltimore, Md., for the Coppin State Tournament. Bryant opens tournament play Friday against Youngstown State (3 p.m.).