Blue Devils hand Bulldogs first NEC loss, 3-0, Friday night

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior setter Vika Katzen (Kfar Saba, Israel) recorded her fourth-straight double-double but Central Connecticut was too much for the Bryant University volleyball team, which fell in straight sets Friday night on the road.

Katzen's 22-assist, 15-dig effort marked her 13th double-double of the season. She added six kills and two blocks for the Bulldogs (10-10, 2-1 Northeast Conference), who suffered their first league loss of the year. The Blue Devils (8-7, 3-0) stayed perfect in NEC action with the 3-0 victory.

CCSU would need extra points to score victories in each of the first two sets, taking a 2-0 match lead with 26-24 and 27-25 wins. The score would be deadlocked 23 times between the two frames, with the lead changing eight times, including five in the second stanza alone.

The Blue Devils would polish off the home win with a 25-21 margin in the third.

Senior Sara DePouw (Oconto, Wis.) and juniors Ally Lunsford (Minneola, Fla.) and Kiley Robbins (Garland, Texas) paced the Black and Gold offense with eight kills apiece. Robbins posted the team's top hitting percentage at .429 and chipped in a block while Lunsford posted three blocks with a .357 attack percentage.

Rookie Ava Patterson (Danville, Calif.) continued to contribute, registering seven kills and a team-leading four blocks (1 solo), while two more players, sophomores Kirstyn Sperry (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Julia Flynn (Pembroke, Mass.), added four kills each in the loss. Sperry also dished out 20 assists.

Defensively, junior Erica Vendituoli (Nashua, N.H.) led all players with 22 digs.

CCSU's Cassidy Stankowski was the only player to record double-digit kills on the night, leading the home offense with 10. Brooke Schwab added nine more, while Morgan Woycik and Gala Galabova each contributed seven.

Kaitlyn Kushman handed out 25 assists, while Rachel Fish and Lindsey Massicotte paced the Blue Devil defense with 15 and 14 digs, respectively. Schwab was the team leader at the net with six blocks, while Maddie Smith and Galabova each totaled five.

On the night, CCSU outblocked Bryant, 13-7, and outhit the Black and Gold, .211 to .131. Senior Carissa Gould (Woonsocket, R.I.) had the Bulldogs' only ace of the evening, while three Blue Devils posted aces.

Next, the Bulldogs take a break from conference action and return to Smithfield for the first time since Sept. 6. Bryant will host UMass Lowell at the Chace Athletic Center on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 7:00 p.m. In the sides' first meeting of the season back on Sept. 2 at the Crusader Classic, the River Hawks escaped with a 3-2 victory, a result the Bulldogs will be looking to reverse on their home court.