Bryant tops North Carolina A&T, falls to Coppin St.

VAN DYK PACES BULLDOGS TO DAY 2 SPLIT

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Led by 35 kills from freshman Claire Van Dyk (New Richmond, Wis.), the Bryant University volleyball team split a pair of matches Saturday to close out the Coppin State Tournament.

The Bulldogs (3-3) opened the day with a 3-2 victory over North Carolina A&T (0-8), paced by a career-high 20 kills from Van Dyk. The frosh boasted a .545 attack percentage and served up an impressive five aces, the most of the Bulldogs' 17 on the outing. Junior Alexandria Clyburn (Cartersville, Ga.) chipped in 11 kills on the match while Jadith Lorenzo (Lawrence, Mass.) posted a match-best 44 assists. Senior libero Macy Mitravich (Waimanalo, Hawaii) put up a contest-high 19 digs as the Bulldogs outkilled the Aggies, 52-34.

Bryant fell behind after the first set, 25-17, before evening the score in the next frame with a 25-23 win. North Carolina A&T took the lead again with a 25-21 set-three victory, but it was the Bulldogs who would take over the end the contest, dominating the final two sets, 25-11 and 15-8.

In the closing contest of the tournament, Van Dyk once again paced the Bulldogs and the contest with 15 kills, while Clyburn continued a strong weekend of her own with 14 more kills and a .524 attack percentage.  But despite cutting the Coppin State (2-5) lead in half with a set three win, 25-21, the Black and Gold eventually fell to the tournament host, 3-1.

Lorenzo put up 37 assists for her second match best of the day, while Mitravich also paced the contest on defense with 12 digs. The Eagles capitalized on 11 service aces, including six from Denali Sturgeon, while Ariel Richard paced the home side with 14 kills.

Van Dyk finished the four-match tournament with 49 kills to earn her first-career all-tournament team selection. The Bulldogs return to action Friday at the Kaiser Classic, hosted by St. John's Sept. 7-8.