Volleyball Tops Bryant, 3-1

The Central Connecticut volleyball team earned a four set victory over Bryant on Saturday afternoon.  The Blue Devils (16-12, 11-4 NEC) dropped the opening set, but rebounded to win three straight and the match.  Senior Blaike King led the offense with 16 kills.

The Bulldogs (11-21, 5-10 NEC) opened the match with a 25-23 set victory, but the Blue Devils responded taking the second set, 25-21, the third, 25-17, and fourth, 26-24.

Both teams played strong defense at the net, which produced 14 blocks for the Blue Devils and 13 for Bryant.

The Blue Devil offense got going in the second set with three players recording three kills.  Sophomore Rachel Dunlap, senior Emily Cochran and King all connected for three kills in the set and senior Jamie Rademacher also had two kills.

Junior Veronika Ban got the Blue Devils off to a quick start in the third set with four service aces over a five serve stretch, which helped the Blue Devils build a 5-0 lead.  CCSU did not look back from that point, building on their lead and winning the set 25-17.

Central need extra points to claim the fourth and final set, but the Blue Devils finally ended it on Cochran's 14th kill of the match.

Freshman Makenna Lommori contributed 43 assists in the match and also led the Blue Devils at the net with eight total blocks.  Rademacher, Ban and Dunlap all totaled five blocks and King chipped in with a pair.

Senior Allyson Porter recorded a match-high 21 digs on defense.  Cochran (10), Lommori (9), King (9) and sophomore Brittany Schumacher (5) also contributed multiple digs.

Before the match, the Blue Devils honored their five senior student-athletes.

Today's contest was the final home match of the year and the Blue Devils conclude the regular season at Quinnipiac tomorrow.  Next weekend the Blue Devils will travel to LIU Brooklyn for the Northeast Conference Tournament.  It is the program's 10th consecutive NEC Tournament appearance.