Semifinal Match 2 -
#3 Bentley Defeats #2 Bryant In Thriller,
3-2
Falcons Advance to First NCAA Regional Final
Saturday
Boxscore
SMITHFIELD, RI – Christina Sadowski
(Salem, NH) hit a blistering .538 with 15 kills and added
eight blocks as third-seeded Bentley College pulled out a thrilling
3-2 win over second-seeded Bryant University to advance to the NCAA
Northeast Regional Championship game. The Falcons will face
top-seeded Dowling College on Saturday at the Chace Athletic Center
on the campus of Bryant University (5 pm ET). Dowling was a
3-0 winner of Saint Rose tonight's first semifinal.
In the third meeting of the season and a rematch of the
Northeast-10 Conference tournament championship a week ago won by
the Bulldogs, also by a score of 3-2, the Falcons took the first
game 30-25, but Bryant would respond by winning the second and
third, 30-21 and 30-27.
The third frame was a back and forth battle that featured 14
ties. With the game tied 27-27, Bryant's
Jessica Cegarra
(Danville,
NH) drilled a kill down the
middle to make it 28-27 and followed with a solo block to give the
Bulldogs game point. Riding the momentum, Elysce
Tackmann (East
Providence,
RI) served up an ace to give the
Bulldogs the win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Bentley would not fold, as the Falcons took early control of the
fourth game, leading 6-0 to open and 20-10 following back-to-back
blocks from Becca Rector (Greenwood
Village,
Colo.) and Carey Demos
(Bakersfield,
Calif.). Bryant would stick
around, cutting the lead to 24-15, but Bentley's senior
Amber Gracey (Saline,
Mich.) would nearly
single-handily take control and force a deciding fifth. Gracey
accounted for four of Bentley's final six points, including
three kills and a block.
In the fifth, the Falcons carried the momentum over, leading 6-2
and after Bryant pulled to within 7-4, Demos and Sadowski picked up
a block up front and Gracey drilled a pair of kills to make it
11-4. At match point, Gracey beat the Bryant block with a
kill on the left side, sending the Falcons to the championship
match.
Bryant was led by senior Michelle Muniz
(Guaynabo,
Puerto Rico).
Bryant's all-time career kills leader led the Bulldogs with
22 kills and 22 digs, while Cegarra finished with 14.
Sophomore Tiffany Garry
(Frankfort,
IL) had 55 assists and four
service aces.
Bentley, which tallied season-high 16.5 team blocks, got 12 kills
from Susan Harrahy
(Nashua,
NH) who had 12 kills and 13 digs
while Gracey finished with 16 digs. Demos had seven blocks
for the Falcons while Sadowski tallied eight blocks in the
match.
