Volleyball stumbles, falls to Hartford, 3-2

BULLDOGS STUMBLE AGAINST HAWKS, FALL 3-2

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The Bryant University volleyball team won two of the first three games but the University of Hartford rallied to win the final two sets, and the match 3-2, on Tuesday night at the Hartford Volleyball Gym.

The Bulldogs (5-11) claimed the third set after coming back from a three-point deficit late in the set, but the Hawks (6-10) won the first seven points of the fourth set and then seven of the first nine in the fifth set to claim the victory.

Bryant was led by 11 kills from junior Alexandria Clyburn (Cartersville, Ga.) and nine kills from freshman Claire Van Dyk (New Richmond, Wis.). Senior Emily Kaup (Chandler, Ariz.) added eight kills and five blocks for the Black and Gold, while Jana Kmec (Stratford, Conn.) and Jordan Thornlow (Colorado Springs, Colo.) each registered double-digit assists with 20 and 15, respectively.

The Black and Gold opened up the first set as they scored six consecutive points with Kendall Gaffney (Colorado Springs, Colo.) serving. Clyburn picked up three kills during the stretch and Kaup added two. Trailing 18-10 at one point, Hartford rallied to within one, 24-23, on Sareeta Nethersole kill but an attack error on the next point gave the Bulldogs the victory.

In set two, the Bulldogs held two early leads – 5-4 and 8-7 – but Hartford pulled away and won the set, 25-18, by scoring the final four points. It appeared the Hawks would take game three as well, building a 21-17 lead thanks to back-to-back kills from Lindsay Anderson and Taylor McCreery. A service error, however, opened the door for the Bulldogs. Bryant went on to score six of the next seven points to grab a 23-22 lead. Clyburn and Kaup teamed up on a block to knot the score at 22-22 and Clyburn gave the Bulldogs the lead with a kill off a Kmec assist. Hartford immediately tied the game but Elena Lohr (Loveland, Ohio) and Van Dyk closed the set with back-to-back kills.

It was all Hawks, though, in the next two sets. Four attack errors by the Black and Gold allowed Hartford to open a 7-0 lead that they were never able to dig themselves out of. Bryant pulled within 14-10 at one point but four consecutive attack errors pushed the deficit to 19-10 and three more attack errors closed out the 25-14 Hawk victory.

The fifth set didn't open any better for the Bulldogs as four more errors helped the Hawks jump out to a 6-1 lead. Bryant would get as close as 11-4 before McCreery and Dionna Kirton combined to close out the 15-6 fifth-set victory.

Bryant will now turn its focus to Northeast Conference play with a pair of matches in Pennsylvania this weekend, Sept. 22-23. The Bulldogs will start in Moon Township, Pa., against Robert Morris on Saturday and then travel to Loretto, Pa., to face Saint Francis (PA) on Sunday.