Bryant volleyball makes NEC Tournament debut Saturday vs. #2 Robert Morris

GAME NOTES

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- The Bryant University volleyball team makes its first-ever Division I playoff appearance in the 2015 Northeast Conference Tournament Nov. 21-22. Bryant secured the No. 3 seed and will faceoff against No. 2 Robert Morris in the second semifinal Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

SETTING THE FIELD
LIU Brooklyn enters the tournament as the top seed for the fifth-straight season and will host the 2015 NEC Tournament at the Steinberg Wellness Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Sacred Heart rounds out the four-team field in the No. 4 spot. The winner of Saturday's first semifinal between the Blackbirds and the Pioneers will take on the winner of the Bulldog/Colonial matchup Sunday at 4:00 p.m. LIU Brooklyn has won the last three NEC titles and is looking for its 10th overall tournament crown. Sunday's champion will advance to the NCAA tournament, with first-round matches played Dec. 4-6.

NEC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
LIU Brooklyn, Robert Morris and Sacred Heart have combined to win the NEC Tournament title in every season dating back to 1999. Only UMBC (1998) and Wagner (1997) also have championships to their name, while the Blackbirds lead the way with nine total crowns, all coming over the last 11 campaigns. The Pioneers won the other two titles in that span, while the Colonials took home five-straight NEC Tournament Championships from 1999-2003. LIU Brooklyn has gone to the finale 11 times, with Robert Morris also making 11 championship appearances and Sacred Heart getting to Sunday three times.

The NEC Tournament has only been decided in five sets once, when Robert Morris beat UMBC back in 2000. The championship bout has gone to four frames just four times while the winner has swept the title on 13 occasions, including in each of the last two seasons.

GARLACY BACK IN POSTSEASON
While this may be the first NEC Tournament appearance for the Black and Gold, Bryant and head coach Theresa Garlacy are far from unfamiliar with postseason play. In the program's 12 seasons under Garlacy prior the move to Division I, the Bulldogs made 10 NCAA Division II tournament appearances, won a DII ECAC Championship, and took home five Northeast-10 Conference regular-season titles and five tournament crowns (seven championship appearances).

QUICK HITS
» Garlacy picks up milestone win: Head coach Theresa Garlacy earned her 450th career victory this season in a 3-1 win over Saint Francis U. at the Chace Athletic Center on Oct. 18.

» Home Alone: The Bulldogs finished the 2015 regular season with a perfect 14-0 record inside the Chace Athletic Center. The unblemished slate marked the first time in program history a Bryant squad has posted a perfect home season.

» Winning Ways: The Bulldogs set new Division I program records for total wins (19) and conference victories (10) in 2015.

» Winner, Winner: Bryant posted its first winning record since 2010 this season, entering the NEC Tournament with a 19-13 mark. It is the second winning campaign for the Bulldogs since going Division I and is also the first time in the DI era the team has earned a winning record in conference play (10-4).

HOMEBODIES
While the Bulldogs have certainly put together a campaign for the ages in 2015, there is no denying that the Black and Gold prefer their home court over any other. Bryant went 14-0 at the Chace Athletic Center this season, outhitting opponents, .238 to .140, and averaging nearly 14 kills per set. Conversely, the Bulldog are just 5-13 away from Smithfield, hitting at a .157 clip and averaging 12 kills per frame. Bryant has just two three-set wins away from home as compared to four in Smithfield, and is just 3-4 in four-set matches after going 9-0 in the category at the Chace.

AWARDS SEASON
Bryant players have racked up almost as many weekly accolades this season as they have in their previous seven seasons of Division I play combined. Four Bulldogs — senior libero Debora Magalhaes, sophomore setter Vika Nesterov, freshman rightside Sophie Hoekstra and freshman outside hitter Kristin Kingi — have combined for 15 NEC and ECAC honors since the start of the 2015 season, as compared to the 17 total weekly accolades garnered by the program since the 2008 campaign. Bulldogs have been named the Molten/NEC Player (3), Defensive Player (4) or Rookie (4) of the Week 11 times this fall to go along with four ECAC honors (see 2015 Awards & Honors on next page).

BULLDOGS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
As both individual players and as a team, the Bulldogs have left a mark on the national statistics this season, none more prominently than senior libero Debora Magalhaes. Magalhaes enters postseason play ranked sixth in the nation in digs per set, picking up 5.65 per frame. Her 678 total digs are good for second on the DI circuit, while she leads a team defense that sits 37th and 12th, respectively, in digs per set (16.60) and total digs (1,992). Magalhaes ranks third in the country this season for digs in a four-set match, posting a career-high 38 in a win over Central Connecticut Nov. 6. She is also tied for fourth for digs in a three-set match with 29 against Saint Francis U. on Nov. 15. Sophomore setter Vika Nesterov also ranks in the nation's single-match top-10, tying for the fourth-most assists in a four-set match by dishing out a career-high 62 helpers against the Red Flash on Oct. 18. As a team, Bryant ties for eighth in the same category (assists in a four-set match), collecting 68 against Saint Francis U.

MIGHTY MAGALHAES
Senior libero Debora Magalhaes has posted 30 or more digs in four matches this season, moving her career total as a Bulldog to seven. That number comes in just under two full seasons donning the Black and Gold, as the Brazilian joined the team as a junior transfer in 2014. Two of those four 30-dig matches have come in the last three contests, with the senior captain registering a career-high 38 against the Blue Devils Nov. 6 and 32 at Robert Morris Nov. 14. She has posted double-digit digs in 31-of-32 matches this season.

DIMES AND DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Sophomore Vika Nesterov has proven she is once again one of the top setters in the game. The second-year playcaller is just 10 helpers away from her second-consecutive 1,000-assist season and is averaging 8.25 dimes per set in 2015. She has eclipsed the 50-assist mark four times this fall, hitting a career-high 62 in a 3-1 win over Saint Francis U. on Oct. 18, and has beaten the 40-helper mark eight times, all coming in the last 10 outings. Nesterov is also among the nation's leaders in double-doubles this season, having posted 19 such performances in the team's 32 matches. She started the season with six-straight double-doubles and has two triple-doubles on the year, coming against Holy Cross on August 28 (15 kills, 21 assists, 12 digs) and at New Hampshire September 8 (10k, 29a, 14d). Nesterov has 34 double-doubles to date on her young career.

WHO IS HOEKSTRA?
Despite being just a freshman, rookie rightside Sophie Hoekstra has made a name for herself as one of the top offensive players in the league this season. The top rookie on the conference circuit in hitting percentage (8th, .259), kills (3rd, 333), and kills per set (5th, 2.95), the Maryland native is a three-time NEC weekly honoree and has one ECAC Rookie of the Week accolade on the year.

SERVES YOU RIGHT
With 40 aces on the season so far, rookie setter Kirstyn Sperry is the first freshman to lead the Bulldog serving ranks since Claire Van Dyk did so in 2012 (42). Prior to that, rookies led the program in aces in 2004 (Tiffany Garry, 95), 2000 (Sarah Smith, 99), 1999 (Erica Hood, 74), 1995 (Marcie Monaco, 54) and 1991 (Maria Bras, 94).

RUTHLESS ROOKS
Bryant's freshman class has been instrumental to the team's success this season. Nearly 59 percent of the team's total offense (906-of-1546 kills) has come out of the rookie ranks, which include the squad's top two kill getters in Sophie Hoekstra (333) and Kristin Kingi (321). Julia Flynn (109) and Margot Ruffieux (108) have each eclipsed the 100-kill mark despite missing time due to injury, while setter Kirstyn Sperry has 319 assists and 191 digs with a team-leading 40 aces.

ROBBINS NEST
After appearing in just six of the first 16 matches of the season (14 sets), sophomore outside hitter Kiley Robbins made her place in the Bulldog rotation known with the start of conference play. After a strong opening league weekend, the sophomore proved to be an invaluable substitution for Garlacy down the stretch and would go on to rank third on the team in kills (109) and kills per set (2.27) and fourth in blocks (28) in the final 16 matches of the regular season. Prior to September 26, Robbins averaged just 1.14 kills per set with four blocks.

BULLDOGS SNAP LIU BROOKLYN'S 47-MATCH CONFERENCE WINNING STREAK
With a 3-1 home win back on September 27, Bryant wrapped up the opening weekend of conference play with arguably its biggest win of the season, snapping LIU Brooklyn's 47-match NEC regular-season win streak dating all the way back to November 6, 2011. The 47-straight wins marked what was at that time the longest conference winning streak in the nation.

Frosh Sophie Hoekstra brought one of her best hitting efforts of the season against LIU, tallying 17 kills, while senior Taylor Onoyan added a career-high 12 blocks. Three players — Kristin Kingi (12 kills, 18 digs), Vika Nesterov (29 assists, 10 digs) and Kristyn Sperry (16 assists, 11 digs) — notched double-doubles in the victory, while senior libero Debora Magalhaes recorded 21 digs. The win marked just the second time in series history that the Bulldogs have defeated the Blackbirds.

WHERE IN THE WORLD?
The Bulldogs' 2015 roster comes from all corners of not just the country, but the globe. With three international students on the roster, the Black and Gold see playing styles that originate from Brazil (Debora Magalhaes), Germany (Maya Miosga) and Israel (Vika Nesterov). And while 15 of Bryant's players hail from the United States, they come from 13 different states scattered across the continental 48. California (Kristin Kingi, Julia Malet) and Massachusetts (Julia Flynn, Victoria Bryan) contribute the most Bulldogs at two apiece, while 11 different Bryant players call their own unique state home. The remainder of Bryant's roster comes from Arizona (Kirstyn Sperry), Colorado (Cassandra Sulmeisters), Florida (Ally Lunsford), Illinois (Taylor Onoyan), Maryland (Sophie Hoekstra), Missouri (Grace Richmeyer), New Hampshire (Erica Vendituoli), North Carolina (Margot Ruffieux), Rhode Island (Carissa Gould), Texas (Kiley Robbins) and Wisconsin (Sara DePouw).

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Seniors Debora Magalhaes, Taylor Onoyan and Victoria Bryan serve as captains for the 2015 Bulldogs.