Robbins's career day paces Bulldogs to 3-1 win over FDU Saturday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Sophomore outside hitter Kiley Robbins (Garland, Texas) posted a career-high 20 kills while rookie rightside Sophie Hoekstra (Millersville, Md.) added 18 more as the Bryant University volleyball team topped Fairleigh Dickinson, 3-1, at home Saturday afternoon.

Two more Bulldogs (17-11, 8-2 Northeast Conference) – freshman outside hitter Kristin Kingi (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and sophomore setter Vika Nesterov (Kfar Saba, Israel) – recorded double-doubles in the outing, with the former registering 13 kills with 11 digs. Nesterov dished out 51 of the team's 59 assists in the victory, adding 16 digs with six kills and three blocks to her day.

Senior libero Debora Magalhaes (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) paced the match with 28 digs, leading four Bryant players who recorded double digits in the category. Hoekstra and senior Taylor Onoyan (Crystal Lake, Ill.) posted four blocks apiece to lead the home side at the net.

Alex Lolland and Rebecca Sabol paced the Knights (9-15, 2-7) with eight kills apiece, while Taylor Wyckoff was impressive on the block, posting nine stuffs (1 solo). Maddie Gibbons added six more blocks to complement four kills, while Allison Butler picked up the team's only double-double with 25 assists and 15 digs.

A balanced offense helped the Bulldogs lead from start to finish in the opening set. Hoekstra slammed home seven kills in eight attempts (.875), while Robbins added five more and Kingi tallied four as the Black and Gold took the frame, 25-11.

FDU kept the second tight through the opening points, but the Bulldogs would quickly double up their visitors, 12-6. Bryant would continue to dominate the scoring, forcing an FDU timeout with a 17-9 margin following a crafty Robbins score. Back-to-back Kirstyn Sperry (Phoenix, Ariz.) aces moved the margin to 23-12, and Robbins would polish off the 25-13 victory with her seventh kill of the stanza.

The Knights took their first lead of the match to open the third set, but the Bulldogs would tie the score early on before taking an 11-8 edge on another point from Robbins. Onoyan would get in on the scoring action to push the margin to 15-10 favoring the Bulldogs, forcing FDU into its first timeout of the frame. But the Knights would score four straight to close the gap and would retake the lead on a Caroline Laton kill, 18-17. The teams would trade points to a 22-22 knot, but FDU would score three of the next four for the 25-23 victory.

Bryant rushed out to a 6-0 lead on the back of strong serving from Nesterov, which included a pair of aces, to open the fourth. FDU would chip away at that advantage, but the Bulldogs maintained a healthy edge, growing their lead to double-digits, 20-10, on a Robbins kill. And Robbins would cap off her career performance with the final kill of the day, as the Bulldogs won the frame, 25-17, and took the match, 3-1.

Sperry led the Black and Gold on the serve with four of the team's eight aces on the afternoon, upping her team-leading total to 35. Nesterov added two more, while FDU received its only ace from Corey Lostetter (16 digs).

Bryant finished the match with a .247 attack percentage as a unit. FDU was limited to .078 accuracy on offense.

The Bulldogs host their final regular-season home game and 2015 Senior Day Sunday, welcoming league-leading Sacred Heart to the Chace Athletic Center for a 1:00 p.m. matchup.