Bryant plays penultimate home weekend of 2019
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University volleyball team returns to the Chace Athletic Center for two of its final three home matches of the 2019 regular season when the Bulldogs host Fairleigh Dickinson and St. Francis Brooklyn this weekend.
Friday's match vs. Fairleigh Dickinson will be the Bulldogs' Green Out for Mental Health Awareness match in partnership with the Northeast Conference, while Saturday's contest is Bryant's "Pink Out" as part of the Bulldogs vs. Breast Cancer initiative.
The Particulars
Opponent: Fairleigh Dickinson
Match Time: Friday – 6 p.m.
Location: Chace Athletic Center (Smithfield, R.I.)
Tickets: Friday
Watch: NEC Front Row
Live Stats: Presto Sports
All-Time Series: Bryant leads, 18-8 (18-6 D1)
Opponent: St. Francis Brooklyn
Match Time: Saturday – 5 p.m.
Location: Chace Athletic Center (Smithfield, R.I.)
Tickets: Saturday
Watch: NEC Front Row
Live Stats: Presto Sports
All-Time Series: Bryant leads, 21-4
LAST TIME OUT: BRYANT 3, LONG ISLAND 1
Freshman Riley James (Pocasset, Mass.) collected her seventh double-double of the year and freshman Alysa Wright (Wayne, Pa.) chipped in with a career-best eight blocks as Bryant beat LIU in Brooklyn for the first time since 2010.
ABOUT THE KNIGHTS
Fairleigh Dickinson picked up a four-set win over Merrimack Saturday to improve to 2-20 and 1-7 in the NEC. Bryant earned a three-set victory in Hackensack in September with three Bulldogs collecting double-digit kills.
Magdalena Maksimovic leads FDU with 2.36 kills per set. Jaelyn Young's 3.17 digs per set are first on the Knights. FDU has been held to a .111 hitting percentage for the season.
ABOUT THE TERRIERS
St. Francis Brooklyn improved to 10-13 on the year with a four-set win over Saint Peter's Tuesday. The Terriers are 3-5 in the NEC. The Bulldogs won the meeting in Brooklyn in five sets in September, led by a career-high 24 kills from James on a .468 hitting percentage.
Una Stevic leads the Terriers with 2.67 kills per set, while Ally Speweik has added 2.12 on a .328 hitting percentage. Kizzy Rodriguez leads the team with 4.46 digs and 0.37 aces per set.
CAROLING IN OCTOBER
Sophomore Caroline Kennedy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) has delivered a stellar first half of NEC play, hitting .338 in her first nine conference matches. In the month of October, Kennedy has 2.83 kills per set on a .355 hitting percentage.
THE WRIGHT CHOICE
Wright earned Molten/NEC Defensive Player of the Week honors Monday after the best showing of her freshman campaign. The middle from Pennsylvania averaged 1.56 blocks per set on the week with six against Central Connecticut and a career-high eight at Long Island. Wright added a career-best 11 kills on a .636 hitting percentage in Tuesday's victory over the Blue Devils.
BIG GAME JAMES
James raised her game in the two matches against fellow NEC contenders last week, averaging 3.11 kills and 2.89 digs per set in the wins over Central Connecticut and Long Island to earn Molten/NEC Rookie of the Week accolades. The freshman from Massachusetts leads the Bulldogs in kills (2.63) and aces per set (0.41) while ranking second in digs per set (2.72).
WARD-WINNING PERFORMANCE
Junior Erika Ward (Rochester, Mich.) brought her career dig total to 1,293 with 13 Saturday. The junior from Michigan enters the weekend 82 back of Kristin Kingi's program record.
BLOCK & GOLD
Bryant is outblocking its opponents in NEC play, averaging 1.98 per set while allowing 1.81. Wright (1.10) and sophomore Haley O'Brien (Milton, Mass.) (1.03) are both over one block per set in conference matches.
HITTING A HIGH NOTE
Bryant's .427 hitting percentage in the Oct. 4 sweep of Saint Francis U was its third-highest mark in the program's Division I era and best since 2008. The Bulldogs, who hit .372 in last week's win at Merrimack, have recorded their two highest hitting percentages in the last three seasons over their last five matches.
UNDERCLASSMEN LEADING THE ATTACK
Bryant has seen 91.4% of its kills come from its sophomores and freshmen in 2019. The Bryant sophomores, led by Kennedy (2.54 per set) have contributed 44.2%, while the freshmen, with James pacing the group (2.63 per set) have collected 47.2%.
UP NEXT: ROBERT MORRIS
Bryant begins its annual excursion to Pennsylvania when the Bulldogs face Robert Morris Friday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. in Moon Township.
Tickets are 2019 home matches at the Chace Athletic Center available by clicking HERE.
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