November 12, 2007

Bryant Sports News Update
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FOOTBALL AND VOLLEYBALL PREPARE FOR NCAA TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK; HOOP SEASONS KICK OFF
It was another wild week in Bulldog Sports as two teams were crowned Northeast-10 Conference Champions.  The football team rolled to a 29-3 win over Bentley before a packed Bulldog Stadium to stake claim to the conference title outright.  Later in the evening, the women's volleyball team won the Northeast-10 Conference title by cruising past Merrimack, 3-1 in the final.  Earlier in the day, men's and women's swimming was victorious in a dual meet at Bentley.  This week, football and volleyball head back to the NCAA tournament once again while cross country standout Nicole Radzik (Sutton,Mass.) heads to Missouri to compete in the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday.
 

BULLDOG WEEKLY ROUNDUP ...

CROSS COUNTRY
Bryant University senior Nicole Radzik (Sutton, Mass.) who captured first place honors at the 2007 NCAA Northeast Regional Championship two weeks ago, will represent the Bulldogs at this Saturday's NCAA Division II Championship which will take place in Joplin, Missouri on Saturday, Nov. 17.  This will be Radzik's second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championship race.

FOOTBALL (8-2, 8-1 NE-10)
Bryant captured its first outright conference championship on Saturday, defeating Bentley in the regular season finale, 29-3. On Sunday, the Bulldogs were rewarded as the team was selected to take part in the 24-team NCAA Division II playoffs.  The Bulldogs, seeded fifth in the region, will travel to New Haven, CT on Saturday to face fourth-seed Southern Connecticut. Kickoff at Jess Dow Field is at 12 noon on Saturday. The Owls defeated the Bulldogs 56-28 less than two weeks ago back on Nov. 2.  In Saturday's win over Bentley, a game played before a packed stadium of just under 5,000 fans, quarterback Charlie Granatell (Franklin Lakes, NJ) set a new Bryant single season record with his 148th completion.  In addition, senior Sean Bergin (New Windsor, NY) had four catches and set a new single season record for receiving yards in a season with 644. 

WOMEN'S SOCCER (17-2-5, 11-0-3 NE-10)
The Bryant women's soccer season came to a close on Sunday afternoon, falling to Franklin Piece, 3-0 in the NCAA Second Round at the Bryant Turf Complex.  The loss ends one of the best season's in school history for the Bulldogs. The team equaled a school record with 17 wins and climbed as high as No. 2 in the national poll this past fall.  Franklin Pierce will advance to the NCAA third round where it will meet up with conference rival Saint Rose. Bryant's only two losses of the year came in the final two games - 2-1 to Saint Rose in the NE-10 final last Sunday and 3-0 to Franklin Pierce in yesterday's final.

VOLLEYBALL (30-12, 14-0 NE-10)
Bryant won its fifth Northeast-10 Conference tournament title over the weekend, as the Bulldogs defeated Merrimack 3-1 in the final Saturday evening at Waltham, Mass. Senior Likica Grceva (Natick, Mass.) was named the tournament's MVP while senior Tiffany Garry (Frankfort, IL) was named to the all-tournament team. The Bulldogs, ranked No. 2in the Northeast Region, have qualified for the program's 11th NCAA tournament.  The team will travel to Oakdale, NY on Long Island and the campus of top-seed Dowling College for the regional which starts Thursday.  The Bulldogs, the No. 2 seed of the tournament will face Adelphi in the first round with the winner to face the winner of New Haven / CW Post in the semifinals Friday.  Grceva was named first team all-conference but was not named the Player of the Year in the Northeast-10 despite leading the conference in kills and earning five player of the week honors this year.  The honor went to Bentley's Christina Sadowski.  The Falcons were swept by Merrimack 3-0 in the semifinals.  

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SWIMMING
Both the Bryant University men's and women's swim teams raced to victories over Northeast-10 Conference rival Bentley College Saturday afternoon on the road, marking the Bulldogs' first-ever win over the Falcons in program history.
It was the first time the teams met in dual-meet format, and the win saw Bryant rewrite the record books: 13 new school records were set, five from the women and eight from the men. The men raced to a decisive 145-117 win over Bentley, while the Bulldog women edged the Falcons, 134-128. Both Bryant teams are 4-0 on the 2007-08 season.
Bryant was led on the men's side by junior Tom Ferrigno (West Chester, PA), who won a trio of individual events - the 1000-yard freestyle (10:27.15), the 100-yard backstroke (55.11) and the 200-yard backstroke (2:01.14) - before swimming the first leg of the winning 400-yard freestyle relay. Ferrigno's two backstroke wins set new school records for the Bulldogs.
Freshman Steven Nguyen (San Jose, Calif.) chipped in a pair of top times of his own and also pitched in on the win in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The rookie set three school records with first-place finishes in 500-yard freestyle (4:58.47 - smashing teammate Ferrigno's previous school record of 5:01.26) and the 200-yard freestyle (1:48.88 - breaking his own school-record time of 1:50.22), and a second-place time in the 100-yard IM (57.95). Other record setters were James Newton (Rockland, MA) (50-yard backstroke; 27.29), John Cieslewski (Watertown, CT) (200-yard breaststroke; 2:25.31) and Matt Derwin (Cheshire, CT) (200-yard butterfly; 2:09.31).
For the women, it was again freshman Amy Howell (Clifton Park, NY) who had the biggest day for the Bulldogs. Howell swam to two wins - the 1000-yard freestyle (11:04.63) and the 500-yard freestyle (5:25.88) - and earned a pair of Bryant records for the win in the 1000-yard freestyle and a second-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly (2:18.25).  Also helping the team sneak past Bentley was sophomore Jess Looney (Goffstown, NH). Looney won the 100-yard IM (1:04.49), setting a new record, and the 200-yard backstroke (2:16.69). Other record setters for the women were freshmen Jill Squillante (Sayville, NY) (100-yard backstroke; 1:02.47) and Lisa Zanchi (North Reading, MA) (100-yard breaststroke; 1:13.81). The Bulldogs will next compete at home against Saint Rose at noon on Sat., Nov. 17.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
The Bryant women's basketball team was picked to finish ninth in the Northeast-10 Conference this season by the league coaches, and will open the 2007-08 season this Wednesday with a non-conference tilt at Adelphi University on Long Island.

MEN'S BASKETBALL
The Bryant men's basketball team will open the 2007-08 season this Saturday and Sunday at the University of Bridgeport Tournament.  The Bulldogs will face host Bridgeport on Saturday and take on Post University (Conn.) on Sunday.  The Bulldogs were picked to finish fourth in the preseason Northeast-10 Conference coaches poll.