Volleyball Tops Dowling 3-1 In ECC Action

Oakdale, N.Y.-After playing three, nip-and tick sets that were decided by a total of only six points (26-24, 25-23, 23-25), the University of Bridgeport women's volleyball team caught fire in set four set when the Purple Knights registered a scalding .429 team attack percentage to take the set, 25-11, and grab an East Coast Conference road win over the host Dowling College Golden Lions on Tuesday night on Long Island.  UB is now 3-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play.  Dowling is now 9-7 overall and 0-2 in the ECC.

Set number one featured 10 ties and five lead changes before Bridgeport pulled out a 26-24 win.  In set two, the Purple Knights rallied from being down 20-13 to win 25-23.  Dowling led 13-4 in the third set, but UB rallied to tie things up 23-23 before the Golden Lions won the final two points to take the set, 25-23.

Sophomore Sarah Rosa (Itajuba, Brazil) led the winners in kills and digs recording a double-double notching 16 in each category. Rosa hit .351 on the evening with those 16 kills on 37 attacks with only three errors.  Junior Ying Shen (Nanjing, China) recorded her fourth straight double-double of 2013 with 11 kills and 14 digs.

Junior Jade Zhao (Huhhot, China) had a fine night on offense with nine kills, as she posted an impressive .571 attack percentage (9 kills-1 error-14 total attacks).  Freshman Frida Randen (Sodertalje, Sweden) played well for the Purple Knights, as she also chipped nine kills and hit .474 on the night without committing an attack error in the match.

Junior Biljana Savic (Novi Sad, Serbia) directed the Bridgeport offense to the tune of 44 assists, and she also added five digs plus three service aces and three block assists.

Graduate student Kelly Palma (Stamford, Conn.) and junior Michele Santos (Campinas, Brazil) also had double-digit digs at Dowling recording 15 and 11 respectively.

Junior Larissa Oliveira (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) led the Bridgeport defense at the net with five total blocks (one solo).

The UB volleyball team continues its East Coast Conference road swing in Upstate New York on Friday night and Saturday morning, as the Purple Knights take on Roberts Wesleyan College on Friday night in Rochester, N.Y. and ECC newcomer Daemen College on Saturday  at 11:00 a.m. in Amherst, N.Y. just outside of Buffalo.