Bulldogs look to clinch first DI playoff berth with weekend wins over FDU and Sacred Heart

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University volleyball team looks to secure its first-ever Division I playoff berth in its final weekend of regular-season home matches Saturday and Sunday at the Chace Athletic Center.

Tied for second in the league standings entering weekend action, the Bulldogs (16-11, 7-2 Northeast Conference) host Fairleigh Dickinson (9-14, 2-6) Saturday at 1:00 p.m. before welcoming league-leading Sacred Heart (13-9, 7-1) to Smithfield for Senior Day Sunday (1:00 p.m.). Both weekend contests will be rematches of early October matchups.

Bryant topped the Knights, 3-0, in the first meeting between the sides back on Oct. 3 in Teaneck, N.J. Standout rookie Kristin Kingi (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) led the way offensively as she has all season, posting a match-best 12 kills while sophomore setter Vika Nesterov (Kfar Saba, Israel) posted one of her 15 double-doubles on the season (28 assists, 11 digs). The Bulldogs will be looking to sweep the season series and get one step closer to their first-ever DI playoff berth.

It is payback that will be on the Bulldogs' minds Sunday, however. The Pioneers handed Bryant one of its just two league losses so far in 2015, and the Black and Gold will be looking to reverse the result of Oct. 4's five-set decision in what could be a battle for the league's top spot. Last time out against Sacred Heart, Kingi once again paced the Bulldogs and the match with 15 kills, but Bryant couldn't fight off a powerful Pioneer comeback despite going up by two sets early on.

Rookies have dominated the Bulldog stat sheet all season long, from a combined 540 kills from Kingi and classmate Sophie Hoekstra (Millersville, Md.) to the serving prowess of setter Kirstyn Sperry (Phoenix, Ariz.) (team-high 31 aces) and beyond.

Quarterbacking the offense, Nesterov has proven she is once again one of the premier setters in the league, currently averaging 7.77 assists per set to compliment 251 digs, 144 kills and 27 aces as a top all-around player for the Black and Gold.

Defensively, it has been libero Debora Magalhaes (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) who has set the standard not just for the Bulldogs, but for the entire NEC. The senior captain averages 5.30 digs per set this season, good for 10th in the nation, and boasts a .951 reception percentage.

At the net, senior captain Taylor Onoyan (Crystal Lake, Ill.) has led the way, posting 91 stuffs (12 solo) in 2015, often teaming up with sophomore middle blocker Ally Lunsford (Minneola, Fla.) (80 blocks) to lead the team's 2.12 blocks per set average inside conference play.

But neither the Knights nor the Pioneers will go down without a fight, as all three programs are still in the hunt for postseason qualification and seeding.

Sunday's match represents the final regular-season home contest for a quartet of talented Bulldog seniors in middle blockers Onoyan and Maya Miosga (Sonthofen, Germany), outside hitter Victoria Bryan (Newton, Mass.) and Magalhaes. The four will be honored in Sunday's pregame ceremony.