November 9, 2006
BULLDOGS FALL TO BENTLEY 3-0 IN NCAA REGIONAL
BOX SCORE
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| Senior Vanessa Lavallee had nine kills to lead the
Bulldogs vs. Bentley in the NCAA Regional Thursday.
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WEST HAVEN, Conn. -- Senior Vanessa
Lavallee (Gilford, NH) had nine kills and freshman
Morgan Wood (Cedar Park, TX)
added six kills but it was not enough as Bentley College put an end
to the Bryant University volleyball season for the second-straight
year with a 3-0 win Thursday night in the first round of the 2006
NCAA Northeast Regional Championship.
Bryant ends its season at 21-19 overall while Bentley (27-10)
will move on to face the winner of the New Haven / C.W. Post match
in the semifinals Friday night.
Bryant, making its 10th appearance in the NCAA
Championships and seventh in-a-row, was hoping the third meeting
with the Falcons this season would be the charm and at the same
time, exacting a little revenge from last year's 3-2 loss to
Bentley in the regional at Smithfield, RI.
However Bentley's Christina Sadowski (Salem, NH) and freshman
Alex Kearney (La Jolla, CA) proved too much to contain as the
Falcons advanced to the semis for the second-straight year.
Sadowski and Kearney, both first-team all-conference selections in
the Northeast-10, tallied 14 and 13 kills respectively as Bentley
hit .211 for the match and added seven service aces.
The Falcons withstood a strong start by the Bulldogs, erasing an
early 6-1 Bryant lead, thanks in part to the strong play by
Sadowski who hit .556 with six kills in the first game. While
participating in the NCAA postseason has been nothing new to both
programs, it took a little while to shrug off any early jitters.
The two teams combined for eight service errors in the
opener.
With the Bulldogs holding onto a 19-17 lead, the Falcons came
out of a timeout and rattled off five-straight points and outscored
the Bulldogs 13-6 to win 30-24.
In the second game, Bryant put together a strong attack, finding
success with Morgan Wood (Cedar Park, TX) and
Beth Schlatterer (Arlington Heights, IL) up front
and the strong serving from Tiffany Garry (Frankfort,
IL). Garry's service ace helped the Bulldogs battle
back from a 14-10 deficit to tie the game, 14-14. But the
Falcon's Alex Kearney would sneak one past the Bryant block and
give Bentley a 20-17 lead.
Later, two more kills by Kearney helped Bentley pull away with a
30-25 and a commanding 2-0 lead in the match. Bryant's
Jessica Cegarra (Danville, NH), held to just one
kill in the opening game, responded with five in the second
In the third, it was Bentley racing out to an early lead, but
the Bryant seniors were determined not to see their seasons end
just yet. A Cegarra blast down the middle helped pull the Bulldogs
to within 18-12. A pair of kills from Likica Grceva
(Natick MA) coupled with a pair of errors by Bentley,
helped the Bulldogs stay within 26-19.
But a kill from Bentley's Tori Piskulick (San Diego, CA) gave
the Falcon's match point and Sadowski answered with a kill to beat
the block, sending Bentley to the regional semifinals.
Bryant finished the match hitting just .070 as Cegarra had seven
kills and four blocks. Lavallee, who has played very well in
all four NCAA matches as a member of the Bulldogs, played well with
strong passing and defense throughout the match, while fellow
senior Elysce Tackmann (East Providence, RI)
contributed eight digs defensively.
******
Earlier today, Bryant placed two players on the 2006 Daktronics
All-Region team as selected by the Sports Information Directors
from the Northeast Region. Senior middle Jessica
Cegarra (Danville, NH) was named first team Daktronics
All-Region while junior setter Tiffany Garry (Frankfort,
IL) was named Second Team All-Region by Daktronics. It is
the second all-region selection for Garry.
