Bulldogs drop pair to BC, Hampton

Van Dyk, DePouw pace Bryant in opening day of BC Invitational

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University volleyball team was competitive against a pair of opponents Saturday afternoon in the opening day of the Boston College Invitational but was unable to come away with its first victory of the season, falling to the host Eagles, 3-0, and to Hampton University, 3-1.

Sophomore Claire Van Dyk (New Richmond, Wis.) posted a team-best 18 kills on the day, including a season-high 16 against the Lady Pirates (2-3), while rookie Sara DePouw (Oconto, Wis.) added 16 kills with a career-best 11 against Hampton.

Sophomore Jana Kmec (Stratford, Conn.) ran the offense, dishing out 62 of the team's 65 assists – including 44 in the second matchup – and junior captain Elena Lohr (Loveland, Ohio) picked up 16 digs on the tournament's opening afternoon.

In the first match of the day against Boston College (3-2), senior Kaitlyn Klein (Modesto, Calif.) paced the Bulldog (0-5) offense with seven kills and added a pair of blocks, also a team best. Kmec ran the attack en route to 18 of the team's 19 assists with a team-best six digs, as Lohr served up a pair of aces with three digs.

DePouw chipped in five kills on 12 attempts while classmate Mallory Wilczynski (Cary, Ill.) converted four of her six tries with each frosh recording a block in the outing.

Katty Workman paced the Eagles with a match-best 10 kills on just 13 attempts for a .692 attack percentage, while Kellie Barnum's five kills in seven tries posted a .714 rate. Barnum added a contest-high 31 assists to her offensive production, and Melissa McTighe put up five blocks (1 solo) to lead the matchup. Courtney Castle would come away with a match-best 12 digs in the three-set victory, while Sara Mendes recorded three of the team's eight aces (7 kills).

The Bulldogs would move onto their next matchup in Hampton soon after without much rest, and while the team came away with its first set victory of 2013 in extra points in the second frame (29-27), Bryant wouldn't be able to hold that momentum, eventually falling in four sets.

Wilczynski added seven kills and six more came from Klein behind the double-digit efforts of Van Dyk and DePouw. Wilczynski and senior Alexandria Clyburn (Cartersville, Ga.) paced the team with four blocks apiece, but 10 service errors to just three aces (one each from DePouw, Klein and rookie Carissa Gould) hurt the Black and Gold. Lohr's 13 digs led both sides in the match.

Hampton's offense came mostly from the efforts of Vendula Strakova (20 kills) and Krista Kraskura (19), who each posted a double-double with 11 and 10 digs, respectively. Bibiany Fonseca posted 45 assists with an ace and two blocks, while Marija Kocevska recorded a match-high six blocks with five kills and two aces. Strakova's trio of aces marked a contest high, while the Lady Pirates hit with .305 accuracy as a team in the match.

The Bulldogs return to BC Invitational action Sunday morning with a 10:30 a.m. bout against Fairfield.