April 21, 2008

WEEKLY SPORTS UPDATE: Tennis Teams Ready For NE-10 Tournament This Week

April 21, 2008

Bryant Sports News Update
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MEN'S AND WOMEN'S TENNIS CAPTURES NE-10 TITLES
The Bryant men's and women's tennis teams captured the Northeast-10 Conference tournament regular season titles this past week with wins over Bentley College marking the first time in 20 years that two school's shared the conference regular season titles.  Springfield men and women both won their respective titles in 1988.  For the Bryant women, this is the first regular season title since 2005 though the Bulldogs will be looking for their fifth-consecutive NE-10 tournament title.  For the Bryant men, this is the team's first regular season title since 1996.  Bryant last won the conference tournament title in 1994. 

BULLDOG WEEKLY ROUNDUP ...

BASEBALL (30-15, 18-5 NE-10, 1st)
The Bryant baseball team over took first place in the conference standings and are currently ranked No.1 in the region.  Last week, the Bulldogs also cracked the Top-25 national poll coming in at No. 25.  The Bulldogs swept a weekend series against Merrimack. The team will get a taste of Division I baseball Monday when Bulldogs will travel to Brown for a non-league game Monday with the Bears.  Bryant will also visit Northeastern on April 28 and host Brown on April 30.  The Bulldogs will host AIC Saturday for senior day. In addition to honoring this year's senior class, the Bulldogs will recognize former standout Mike Rocco (Tewksbury, MA) who set the NCAA Division II record for career putouts with 2,013 from 2004-07. 

SOFTBALL (20-10, 17-3 NE-10, 2nd)
The Bryant softball team went 1-3 over the weekend including a double-header sweep at the hands of first-place Le Moyne Sunday in Syracuse.  The team will host Saint Anselm Tuesday, Assumption Saturday and Saint Michael's Sunday for Senior Day. Janine Enos (Wareham, MA) tossed a no-hitter in the first game against Lowell Thursday.

MEN'S LACROSSE (11-3, 8-1 NE-10, 2nd)
Men's lacrosse stretched it's win streak to eight games with two dominating performances last week. The Bulldogs put up 19 goals in a 19-2 thumping of Assumption Wednesday night and downed Saint Anselm 19-5 Saturday.  Bryant trailed Saint Anselm 5-2 after one but out-scored the Hawks 17-2 over the final three quarters. Sophomore face-off specialist Andrew Hennessey (Wading River, NY) had an incredible week, winning 42 of 47 face-offs and scored his first goal of the season against Assumption seconds after winning yet another face-off against the Greyhounds. The Bulldogs host Southern New Hampshire Saturday at 1 p.m.

WOMEN'S LACROSSE (8-6, 6-3 NE-10, 4th)
The Bryant women's lacrosse team dropped two games last week, falling to ninth-ranked New Haven 16-12 Monday and 10th-ranked Southern NH 23-10 Saturday. Allison Faiola (Billerica, MA) had six goals against New Haven. The junior leads the team with 49 goals this season. The team hosts Saint Anselm Tuesday night.

MEN'S TENNIS (17-3, 10-0 NE-10, 1st)
Ranked No. 45 nationally and third in the East Region, the Bryant men's tennis team captured the 2008 Northeast-10 Conference regular-season title with a 9-0 win over Bentley College Wednesday. The Bulldogs held on for a 5-4 win over Mercy College Sunday in a crucial regional match.  Bryant will host Le Moyne Tuesday in a Northeast-10 Conference quarterfinal match. The semifinals will take place Thursday with the championship scheduled for Sunday at Stonehill College (11 a.m.).  

WOMEN'S TENNIS (19-2, 12-0 NE-10, 1st)
Ranked No. 3 in the East Region, the Bryant women's tennis team ran its win streak to 11 matches with wins over Bentley College and Dowling last week. The 8-1 win over Bentley clinched the conference regular season title for the Bulldogs.  Katharine Francazio (Cranston, RI / La Salle) is currently 19-1 this season with the lone loss coming against URI last fall. She is a perfect 14-0 at No. 4 singles.  Michelle Burke (Barrington, RI) is 15-6 (10-5 at No. 3 singles).  The Bulldogs will host Assumption Wednesday afternoon in a NE-10 quarterfinal match starting at 2 p.m. The semifinals will take place Friday with the conference championship scheduled for Sunday at Stonehill College.

TRACK & FIELD  
The Bryant University men's and women's track and field teams competed at the MIT Spring Invitational April 18 and 19 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Junior Steph Montagano (Wakefield, Mass.) took first place in the 400 meter dash in a time of 58.31, and was joined in top finishes by Nicole Radzik (Sutton, Mass.) and the men's 4x400 relay team. Radzik took first in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 11:32, while the men took the top spot in the relay with a 3:22.36 mark.  Other top finishers on the day were freshman Thomas O'Connor (Westwood, Mass.), who took fourth in the 200 meter dash (22.24) and Alexander Engel (Spencer, Mass.), who took second in the 400 meter dash (49.22).

MEN'S GOLF
Led by a ninth-place finish from sophomore Jason Thresher (West Suffield, Conn.), the Bryant University golf team took third of 18 teams at this weekend's Mount Saint Mary's Spring Invitational.  Thresher's three-round total of 217 tied him for ninth, while senior Scott Congdon (Foxboro, Mass.) carded a 218 (T-12), as the pair led Bryant to a tournament total of 891, good for third place.  Thresher shot 73s in the first and third rounds with a 71 in Round Two, while Congdon shot four over par in Round One (76) and one under in the next two. Eric Tankanow (Worcester, Mass.) finished next for the Bulldogs, tied for 28th. Bryant next hits the course April 21-22, when they travel to AIC for the American International Invitational.

BULLDOG NOTES ...

KEY DATES:
May 1 -         Athletic Awards Dinner
May 3 -         NE-10 Track Championships @ Bryant
July 30 -        Black & Gold Golf Tournament

BULLDOG BLACK & GOLD GOLF TOURNAMENT
This year's annual Black & Gold Golf Outing will be held July 30, 2008 at the Crystal Lake Golf Club in Burrillville, RI. Last year's successful outing was also held at Crystal Lake. The Black & Gold Club Golf Outing is held to raise money for the school's Black & Gold Club. The Black & Gold Club is the Athletics department's main fundraising arm, and goes to supporting student-athletes and coaches through scholarships and capital projects. The format of the event will be Texas Scramble. The cost is $150 per golfer or $600 per foursome. Please contact Ruth Nicastro at (401) 232-6071 or rnicastr@bryant.edu to register.

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