Purple Knights Ready To Open 2014 Women's Volleyball Season In Florida On Friday

Bridgeport, Conn.-The two-time defending East Coast Conference champion University of Bridgeport women's volleyball team will open its 2014 season in West Palm Beach, Florida on Friday, September 5 at the Hyatt Place Sunshine Classic hosted by Palm Beach Atlantic University.  The Purple Knights will face Kentucky State University to begin the tournament at 10:30 a.m. on Friday.  Bridgeport will kick off its 2014 campaign by facing three NCAA Division II Tournament teams from last season in Kentucky State, Eckerd and the host Sailfish of Palm Beach Atlantic, who are ranked number 25 in the nation in the American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division II preseason poll, in their first four matches.

In 2013, the Purple Knights went 22-3 overall capturing their second straight ECC title and making their sixth consecutive NCAA Division II Championship Tournament appearance.  Last year, the Purple Knights rose to the top spot in the NCAA Division II East Region rankings and hosted the NCAA Regional for the first time in school history.

There is a new man in charge of the Bridgeport volleyball program this season, as Gary Mullin takes over as head coach from Leo Uzcategui.  Mullin comes to the Purple Knights after serving as the head men's coach at his alma mater, Yale University, plus for the past five seasons, he has been the assistant women's volleyball coach at Trinity (Conn.) College.

The 2014 UB women's volleyball team is an experienced and deep group with seven seniors on the roster.

2013 East Coast Conference Player of the Year and 2014 ECC Preseason Player of the Year, the versatile Biljana Savic (Sr., Novi Sad, Serbia) is back to help lead this year's team.  In 2013, Savic averaged 2.22 kills, 5.90 assists and 2.30 digs per set, plus for good measure, she also chipped in 0.41 blocks per set to show just how well-rounded a total game she possesses.  Biljana comes into this season only five kills shy of 1,110 and just 46 digs short of 1,000 for her stellar career.

Junior Sarah Rosa (Itajuba, Brazil) led last season's team in kills per set at 3.23, and she was joined by senior Ying Shen (Nanjing, China) at over 3.0 kills per set with 3.06.  Shen also led the Purple Knights in digs averaging 3.01 per set in 2013.  In her two years in a Bridgeport uniform, Shen has crushed a total of 718 kills.

The UB defense at the net will be directed by senior Larissa Oliveira (Belo Horizonte, Brazil), who last year averaged a team-leading 1.06 blocks per set.  Oliveira enters 2014 with an impressive 323 career blocks.  Larissa is no slouch on offense either as he hit a team-best .351 in 2013, while averaging nearly two kills per set.

Look for seniors Jade Zhao (Huhhot, China), who averaged 0.85 blocks per set and Amanda Kunrath (Ivoti, Brazil) plus sophomore Frida Randen (Sodertalje, Sweden-1.08 kills and 0.77 blocks per set on '13) to be key cogs in the Purple Knights' net presence.

Junior libero Martina Santia (Sezze, Italy) is back to help anchor the Bridgeport backline after amassing 250 total digs last season.

Senior Michele Santos (Campinas, Brazil), who can both set and be a defensive specialist, will be an important member of this year's UB team.

Junior Sofija Markovic (Belgrade, Serbia) is looking to put an injury-plagued 2013 campaign behind her and add to the team's strength up front.

Sophomore Salina DeCicco (Kingston, N.Y.) returns to help the Purple Knights' defense.

Graduate student Giovana Soares (Sao Paulo, Brazil), a transfer from Florida Tech, is the lone newcomer in this season's team. 

After opening the season in the Sunshine State, UB returns home to open play in Hubbell Gym with a match on Friday, September 12 versus 2013 NCAA Tournament team Franklin Pierce University.  The Purple Knights open their 2014 East Coast Conference slate on Tuesday, September 16 with a home match against Dowling College, another 2013 NCAA Division II Championship Tournament participant.

Also highlighting UB's 2014 schedule are tough conference home-and-home matches versus the 2013 NCAA East Regional Champion, LIU Post Pioneers, at home on September 30 and on Long Island on October 28, and the Bears of NYIT, another NCAA Tournament squad who took Bridgeport to five-sets in last season's ECC title match, at NYIT on September 25 and in the Park City on October 23.  The Purple Knights will also be challenged with a long conference road trip to Upstate New York to take on Roberts Wesleyan and Daemen the weekend of September 19 and 20, and those two tough clubs return the favor in Hubbell Gym on October 17 and 18.