Bulldogs stay perfect at home with 3-1 win over Robert Morris Saturday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Rookie Kristin Kingi (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) posted a match-high 16 kills while senior Debora Magalhaes (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) racked up 35 digs as the Bryant University volleyball team remained undefeated at home with a 3-1 victory over Robert Morris Saturday in league play.

Now 11-0 at the Chace Athletic Center, the Bulldogs (14-10, 5-1 Northeast Conference) saw double-doubles from Kingi (16 kills, 12 digs) and sophomore setter Vika Nesterov (Kfar Saba, Israel), who dished out 45 assists and added 11 digs with a pair of aces.

Four different Bulldogs finished the night with eight kills – senior Taylor Onoyan (Crystal Lake, Ill.), sophomores Ally Lunsford (Minneola, Fla.) and Kiley Robbins (Garland, Texas) and freshman Sophie Hoekstra (Millersville, Md.) – while Onoyan paced both sides with six blocks. Lunsford, Robbins and Hoekstra (11 digs) all finished with four stuffs in the contest, with the Bulldogs posting 11 as a team.

Arden Fisher led the Colonials (10-11, 4-2) with 15 kills and added 19 digs for her own double-double, while Kristin Thompson also finished in double-figure kills with 10 (5 blocks). Allie Yurkovich posted 18 digs with one of two team aces, and Liz Campbell doled out 35 assists.

The Bulldogs looked strong throughout the match, taking the first two sets, 25-16 and 25-21, after starting out the contest with eight-straight points served up by Nesterov.

In a closely contested third set, the Colonials took a late edge and held on, 25-22, despite five kills from Lunsford in the frame. Bryant led throughout the fourth stanza before opening up a 19-10 edge in the fourth. Robert Morris would stage a five-point comeback from there to close the deficit to 19-15, but the Black and Gold would score six of the next nine points for a 25-18 victory to take the match, 3-1.

As a unit, the Bulldogs outhit the Colonials, .170 to .090, and outblocked their visitors, 11-10. Bryant also won out the margins in aces, 6-2, assists, 53-38, and digs, 89-71.

The Bulldogs return to the court and look to add to their current three-match winning streak Sunday afternoon, when they host Saint Francis U. at 1:00 p.m. at the Chace Athletic Center.