Bryant selected to finish fourth in NEC preseason poll

SOMERSET, N.J. – The Bryant University volleyball team was selected to finish fourth in the Northeast Conference in a preseason poll of the NEC's head coaches, the conference office announced Thursday.

Bryant, the defending NEC Tournament champion, received two first-place votes and was one of four teams in the league to earn a first-place nod.

Sacred Heart, which made a trip to the conference title match as the No. 4 seed in 2018, was picked to win the league and collected four first-place votes. Long Island was selected second with one first-place vote and Central Connecticut was chosen to finish third with two first-place selections.

Robert Morris, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U, Fairleigh Dickinson and league newcomer Merrimack rounded out the nine-team poll.

Bryant returns a pair of All-NEC selections in 2019 in junior Erika Ward (Rochester, Mich.) and sophomore Caroline Kennedy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.), along with two others who played in at least 30 matches - senior Nikki Kim (River Edge, N.J.) and sophomore Haley O'Brien (Milton, Mass.).

Bryant begins its 2019 season Friday, Aug. 30, when the Bulldogs face San Diego State in a tournament hosted by FGCU in Fort Myers, Florida. The Bulldogs' home opener will be Friday, Sept. 6, when Bryant hosts North Dakota in its first match of the Hampton Inn-vitational.

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