Bryant captures first NEC regular season co-championship with win at Saint Francis U

LORETTO, Pa. – The Bryant University volleyball team captured its first Northeast Conference regular season co-championship Saturday with a four-set victory at Saint Francis U, securing the No. 2 seed in next weekend's NEC tournament and building on its Division I program-record win total with its 21^st win of 2017.

Bryant set another Division I program-best with 109 digs in the match, while doing so in just four sets. 

Match Information
Bryant 3, Saint Francis U 1 (25-21, 25-21, 21-25, 25-21)
Records: Bryant (21-11, 11-3 NEC); Saint Francis U (12-15, 6-8 NEC)
Location: DeGol Arena (Loretto, Pa.) 

Coach Garlacy's Comments
"Our senior leadership of Ally Lunsford and Kiley Robbins really set the tone tonight. We hit aggressively and our defense was ridiculous. With five people having double-digit digs, it showed our true grit and determination. We won every long rally in this match. We are poised and ready to head into the NEC tournament. 

How it Happened

• Set 1 – Juniors Julia Flynn (Pembroke, Mass.) and Kristin Kingi (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) had four kills each, while senior Kiley Robbins (Garland, Texas) and junior Grace Richmeyer (DeSoto, Mo.) teamed up for two blocks in a 25-21 set win. Flynn had eight digs in the opening set.
• Set 2 – Flynn added another five kills and nine digs in a 25-21 set victory to put the Bulldogs up 2-0. Senior Ally Lunsford (Minneola, Fla.) added five kills on eight errorless attacks, while freshman Erika Ward (Rochester, Mich.) tallied seven digs
• Set 3 – The Red Flash forced a fourth set by hitting .302 in a 25-21 Saint Francis set win. Robbins had five kills in the frame, while junior Kirstyn Sperry (Phoenix, Ariz.) added six kills, two digs and a block.
• Set 4 – Four Bulldogs – Flynn, Robbins, Lunsford and Richmeyer – had three or more kills, while freshman Alisi Motu'apuaka (Virginia Beach, Va.) had 11 digs in the set.

Stats/Notes                                                         

• Bryant broke its Division I single-match record for digs, doing so in a four-set match. The 109 digs surpassed a total of 105 in a five-set win over Quinnipiac in 2010.
• Junior Julia Flynn (Pembroke, Mass.) tallied 13 kills and a career-high 23 digs. Flynn has 21 double-digit dig performances in 2017.
• Freshman Alisi Motu'apuaka (Virginia Beach, Va.) had a career night with 22 digs and added 14 assists.
• Freshman Erika Ward (Rochester, Mich.) notched 20 digs, while junior Kirstyn Sperry (Phoenix, Ariz.) had 32 assists, 19 digs, five kills, two aces and two blocks.
• Seniors Kiley Robbins (Garland, Texas) and Ally Lunsford (Minneola, Fla.) were in double digits in kills, as Robbins collected 12 and Lunsford chipped in 11.
• Junior Grace Richmeyer (DeSoto, Mo.) contributed nine kills and three blocks.
• Bryant improves to 8-11 all-time against Saint Francis U.
• The Bulldogs are headed to their third-straight NEC tournament and have won a Division I program-best 59 matches over the last three seasons.
• Head coach Theresa Garlacy now stands at 494 career victories.

Up Next
Bryant will travel to LIU Brooklyn for the Northeast Conference tournament, which begins Friday with a match against No. 3 seed Central Connecticut. Full details on the Northeast Conference tournament will be released later this weekend.