Bryant opens 2019 Friday & Saturday in Fort Myers
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Bryant University volleyball team opens its 2019 season and Northeast Conference title defense this weekend when the Bulldogs play three matches at the FGCU Invitational.
The Particulars
Opponent: San Diego State
Match Time: Friday – 4 p.m.
Location: Alico Arena (Fort Myers, Fla.)
Watch: Facebook Live
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
All-Time Series: First Meeting
Opponent: FGCU
Match Time: Saturday – 11 a.m.
Location: Alico Arena (Fort Myers, Fla.)
Watch: Facebook Live
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
All-Time Series: First Meeting
Opponent: Akron
Match Time: Saturday – 4 p.m.
Location: Alico Arena (Fort Myers, Fla.)
Watch: Facebook Live
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
All-Time Series: Akron leads, 2-0
THE CHAMPS ARE HERE
Two of the four teams in this weekend's tournament won their respective conferences in 2018. Bryant captured its first NEC title last November, while FGCU won the Atlantic Sun and knocked off No. 13 national seed UCF in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
16x4
Bryant is the only Division I volleyball program in New England to win 16 or more matches in each of the last four seasons. The Bulldogs have won at least 19 in all four campaigns with a D1 program-record 22 in 2018.
INSTANT IMPACT
Sophomore Caroline Kennedy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) tallied 409 kills in 2018 – the most in a single season in Bryant's Division I history – and earned All-NEC honors as a freshman.
BIG DIG
Junior Erika Ward (Rochester, Mich.) is the first player in Bryant's program history to collect 1,000 digs by the end of her sophomore season. Ward reached the mark with a 32-dig performance in last year's NEC Semifinal.
WE'RE THE CAPTAINS NOW
Seniors Brianna Bruny (Biscayne Park, Fla.) and Nikki Kim (River Edge, N.J.), along with redshirt-junior Sydney Gorski (Chagrin Falls, Ohio), were named the Bulldogs' captains prior to the season.
ALL THE YOUNG DAWGS
Ten of Bryant's 16 players in 2019 are either freshmen or sophomores. Kennedy, Jenna Knight (Scottsdale, Ariz.), Haley O'Brien (Milton, Mass.) and Maya Popernik (Chicago, Ill.) all made pivotal contributions to the Bulldogs' November run as freshmen and are joined by six newcomers: Mia Cergol (East Northport, N.Y.), Riley James (Pocasset, Mass.), Emma McGovern (Long Beach, N.Y.), Abby Rae (Walpole, Mass.), Maggie Ryan (Bethesda, Md.) and Alysa Wright (Wayne, Pa.).
516 AND COUNTING
Head coach Theresa Garlacy picked up her 500th career victory in last September's win over Coppin State, 22 years to the day of her first victory over Saint Michael's in 1996. Garlacy has won 516 matches in her collegiate head coaching career - all at Bryant - entering the opening weekend of the 2019 season.
UP NEXT: NEW HAMPSHIRE
Bryant will play six of the next seven Tuesdays with the first on the road, facing New Hampshire Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Durham, New Hampshire. The Bulldogs will look to avenge a five-set defeat in Smithfield last season.
Tickets for the 2019 season at the Chace Athletic Center, beginning with the Sept. 6 home opener against North Dakota, are available by clicking HERE.
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