Saturday showdown with LIU up next for Bryant
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The Bryant University volleyball team travels to Brooklyn for a Northeast Conference showdown with Long Island Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs are 6-2 in the NEC entering the weekend and in third place in the conference standings, while the Sharks are in second place at 5-1 entering a Friday meeting with Merrimack.
The Particulars
Opponent: Long Island
Match Time: Saturday – 4 p.m.
Location: Steinberg Wellness Center (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Watch: NEC Front Row
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
All-Time Series: Long Island leads, 18-4
LAST TIME OUT: BRYANT 3, CENTRAL CONNECTICUT 2
Freshman Riley James (Pocasset, Mass.) collected 17 kills, sophomore Caroline Kennedy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) added 14 and freshman Alysa Wright (Wayne, Pa.) chipped in with a career-high 11 as Bryant won its fourth-straight meeting with Central Connecticut Tuesday.
ABOUT THE SHARKS
Long Island stands at 5-1 in the NEC, in second place behind Robert Morris, prior to the Sharks' Friday night clash with Merrimack. The Sharks are the one NEC opponent the Bulldogs have not faced to this point in the season.
Kora Schaberl leads LIU with 3.80 kills per set, while freshman Karolina Nova has added 3.02 along with 20 aces. Natalia Rivera has recorded a team-high 4.34 digs per set.
SHARK WEEK
Saturday marks Bryant's first meeting with the recently renamed Long Island University Sharks. The volleyball program was previously known as the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds before Long Island University's Division I Brooklyn campus and Division II Post campus merged this summer.
CAROLING IN OCTOBER
Kennedy has delivered a stellar first half of NEC play, hitting .353 in her first eight conference matches. In the month of October, Kennedy has 2.80 kills per set on a .379 hitting percentage.
BLOCK & GOLD
Bryant recorded 13 blocks last Saturday vs. Sacred Heart and 11 in Tuesday's win over Central Connecticut, marking the first time this season the Bulldogs put together back-to-back double-digit block totals.
WARD-WINNING PERFORMANCE
Junior Erika Ward (Rochester, Mich.) brought her career dig total to 1,280 with a season-high 24 Tuesday. The junior from Michigan enters the weekend 95 back of Kristin Kingi's program record.
SETTING THE STAGE FOR SUCCESS
The duo of junior Alisi Motu'apuaka (Virginia Beach, Va.) and freshman Mia Cergol (East Northport, N.Y.) has set Bryant to team hitting percentages of .372, .427 and .333 in three of the Bulldogs' last five matches. Motu'apuaka was named to the all-tournament team in two of Bryant's four non-conference weekend invitationals.
HITTING A HIGH NOTE
Bryant's .427 hitting percentage in the Oct. 4 sweep of Saint Francis U was its third-highest mark in the program's Division I era and best since 2008. The Bulldogs, who hit .372 in last week's win at Merrimack, have recorded their two highest hitting percentages in the last three seasons over their last four matches.
RILEY'S RECORD DAY
James hit .468 with 24 kills in the Sept. 28 win over St. Francis Brooklyn, giving the freshman from Massachusetts the Bryant Division I record for kills by a freshman in a single match.
James leads the Bulldogs with 2.57 kills per set in her freshman year, is first in aces per set (0.40) and second in digs per set (2.70).
UNDERCLASSMEN LEADING THE ATTACK
Bryant has seen 91.1% of its kills come from its sophomores and freshmen in 2019. The Bryant sophomores, led by Kennedy (2.51 per set) have contributed 44.7%, while the freshmen, with James pacing the group (2.63 per set) have collected 46.4%.
UP NEXT: FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON
Bryant returns to the Chace Athletic Center to host Fairleigh Dickinson Friday, Oct. 25 at 6 p.m. Tickets are available by clicking HERE.
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