Bulldogs fall to Sacred Heart in straight sets in NEC home opener

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University volleyball responded to a 25-11 opening set loss by battling in sets two and three, but Sacred Heart pulled away late in both frames and earned a straight-sets victory on Saturday afternoon.

The Pioneers (12-6) jumped out to leads of 8-1 and 16-2 just minutes into the first set, ultimately cruising to a decisive 25-11 win. The visitors took an early 4-0 lead in the second set with Liisel Nelis serving, but after her fifth serve went long the Bulldogs (11-11) came to life.

Trailing, 8-4, Bryant collected eight of the next 11 points to tie things at 12-12. Sophomore Julia Flynn (Pembroke, Mass.) had all four of her kills in the set during the stretch, while the Pioneers committed four errors. But Sacred Heart regained control of the set from there, pulling ahead, 20-14. Sarah Krufka was dominant down the stretch and had the final five kills for the Pioneers, as they took the set, 25-18.

The third set was highly contested, with both sides going back-and-forth. Following a wild rally that lasted over a minute and finished with an Ava Patterson (Danville, Calif.) kill, junior Ally Lunsford (Minneola, Fla.) gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the match, 3-2. Bryant went up 6-4, but it was the largest lead it would see.

After 10 ties and four lead changes in the third set, Krufka gave the Pioneers a 13-12 edge and a lead they would not relinquish. They grew the margin to as many as three and held onto that lead until kills by Flynn, sophomore Kirstyn Sperry (Phoenix, Ariz.) and classmate Kristin Kingi (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) made it 21-20. But Allison Riggs got Sacred Heart back on track with the next point and Makayla Dole added two kills, as a 4-0 run was used to close the door on the match.

Sperry paced the Bulldogs and was the only one in double figures with 10 kills, also adding seven assists and five digs. Flynn finished with seven kills and Lunsford tallied five. Kingi led the defense with nine digs, and senior setter Vika Katzen (Kfar Saba, Israel) notched a contest best 18 assists.

Dole and Krufka led the match with 14 and 12 kills, respectively, while Nelis pitched in nine. Setters Kiki Robinson and Lea Lieb matched Katzen with 18 assists apiece, and libero Ana Gonzalez had a game high 13 digs.

The Bulldogs will look to rebound tomorrow afternoon when they host Fairleigh Dickinson at 1:00 p.m.