Bryant tops CCSU for Garlacy's 400th win

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After fighting through the first two sets, the Bryant University volleyball team found its groove and made easy work of Northeast Conference foe Central Connecticut, topping the Blue Devils, 3-1, for the first time in program history and recording head coach Theresa Garlacy's 400th-career win in the process.

Senior captain Maria Scocca (Melrose, Mass.) recorded her second-straight contest with match bests in kills and blocks, collecting 14 kills and seven stuffs in the Bulldogs' (11-16, 5-6 NEC) come-from-behind victory Sunday evening. Co-captain Jazmin Stoner (Durango, Colo.) added nine kills and a team-best 15 digs, while junior Emily Kaup (Chandler, Ariz.) chipped in six blocks to compliment eight kills on the night.

The win didn't look so concrete in the opening set, though, as the Bulldogs and the Blue Devils (14-9, 6-4) battled to a 25-22 margin in favor of the visitors. The second stanza was much of the same with an opposite conclusion as Bryant knotted the match, 1-1, with a 25-20 win.

But coming out in the third frame, the Bulldogs looked like a revived and reorganized team, and the Black and Gold played an aggressive game to open up a 19-6 lead, one that would quickly stretch to a 25-10 win closed out by a Leigh Fishback (Edmonds, Wash.) ace for a 2-1 match edge.

In the fourth set, Bryant again opened a sizeable lead early, moving the scoreboard to 11-6 before forcing CCSU to take a timeout and regroup. But out of the break, the Bulldogs kept the pressure on, making the score 21-13 and finally winning, 25-14, on an ace from starting setter Jadith Lorenzo (Lawrence, Mass.) for the program's first win over Central Connecticut. The victory also marked the program's first Northeast Conference weekend sweep after the team topped St. Francis (NY) Saturday afternoon on the road, 3-1.

Sophomore Kendall Gaffney (Colorado Springs, Colo.) also chipped in eight kills with 12 digs and a block to help Bryant to the win, while Lorenzo served up a match-high four aces to go with eight digs, five kills and 26 assists. Fishback recorded 16 assists of her own with six digs, while rookie Elena Lohr (Loveland, Ohio) picked up 10 digs and an ace.

Bryant saw seven aces in the afternoon to CCSU's two, and the Bulldogs posted a .268 team attack percentage. Emily Cochran and Jamie Rademacher paced the visiting Blue Devils with nine kills apiece on the day, while Danielle Gasser dished out a match-high 33 assists. Brittany Schumacher's 21 digs were also a contest best.

The Bulldogs return to the court for a single match next week, a 2 p.m. Saturday matchup with Quinnipiac as Bryant looks for a season sweep over the Bobcats in Hamden, Conn.