Bulldogs drop 3-2 heartbreaker to Marist on road Friday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Freshman Kristin Kingi (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) recorded her second-career double-double off a career- and game-high 20 kills and 19 digs while setters Vika Nesterov (Kfar Saba, Israel) and Kirstyn Sperry (Phoenix, Ariz.) picked up double-doubles of their own, but the Bryant University volleyball team fell to Marist, 3-2, Friday night.

The match was the opening contest of the weekend-long Marist Tournament, and the Bulldogs (4-5) started off with a 25-22 win in the opening frame. The Red Foxes (4-4) came back to tie the match with a 26-24 victory in the second and would go up, 2-1, after a 25-19 set-three win.

Bryant edged its hosts, 25-23, to force a deciding fifth game, but Marist was too much for the Black and Gold, winning, 15-8, for a 3-2 match victory.

Senior Taylor Onoyan (Crystal Lake, Ill.) added 10 kills with a match-best five blocks for the Bulldogs, while classmate Debora Magalhaes (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) paced the contest defensively with 20 digs (2 aces). Nesterov dished out 24 assists with 11 digs and five kills, while Sperry contributed a career-high 31 helpers with 13 digs, seven kills and four blocks.

The Red Foxes saw four players finish in double-digit kills, led by Kelsey Ediger's 19. Kelsey Lahey added 17 more with 14 digs, while Courtney Shaw and Ashton Korona each posted 11 kills. Setter Amanda Schlegel registered a match-high 54 assists with nine digs and eight kills, while Lexi Millington recorded 19 digs for the hosts.

The Bulldogs return to action at the Marist Tournament Saturday, taking on Bucknell at 11:00 a.m. and wrapping up play in Poughkeepsie with a 4:30 p.m. matchup against La Salle.