Bryant drops five-set heartbreaker at Robert Morris Saturday afternoon

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University volleyball team pushed Saturday's matchup against Robert Morris to the full five sets but couldn't come away with the win to open the final regular-season weekend, falling to the Colonials, 3-2, on the road at the Sewall Center.

After falling short, 25-15, in the opening frame, the Bulldogs (19-12, 10-3 Northeast Conference) came back to take the second set, 25-23, and tie the match at 1-1. The third would go to the Colonials (16-12, 10-3), 25-19, but after a key timeout late in the fourth, Bryant would come back to knot the contest once again with a 25-23 victory.

Robert Morris would never trail in the deciding fifth frame, however, eventually taking the 3-2 victory with a 15-9 margin.

Rookies Kristin Kingi (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Sophie Hoekstra (Millersville, Md.) and Julia Flynn (Pembroke, Mass.) paved the way for the Black and Gold offense with 10 kills apiece, while sophomore Kiley Robbins (Garland, Texas) added nine more on the afternoon. Kingi (15 digs) and Flynn (12 digs) were joined by sophomore setter Vika Nesterov (Kfar Saba, Israel) in posting double-doubles, as the latter dished out 47 assists and 19 digs with three kills and five blocks.

Senior libero Debora Magalhaes (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) grabbed her fourth 30-dig match of the season with 32 against the Colonials, while sophomore middle Ally Lunsford (Minneola, Fla.) paced the match with seven stuffs (7 kills). Magalhaes served up two of the team's four aces.

Four Colonials finished with double-figure kills, led by 15 from Arden Fisher and 14 from Leah Dunivan. Fisher also paced the side with 28 digs, while Kristin Thompson ended her afternoon with 13 kills, a .379 attack percentage and seven blocks. Taylor Lord also picked up a double-double with 11 kills and 26 digs (five blocks). Brianna Frakes paced the match with 54 assists to complement 16 digs.

As a team, the Colonials outhit the Bulldogs, .229 to .131 and held a slight margin in kills, 64-60.

The Bulldogs return to the court for the regular-season finale Sunday at 1 p.m., taking on Saint Francis U. in Loretto, Pa. Bryant is still vying for seeding in the NEC Tournament, to be played Nov. 21-22.