October 29, 2007

BRYANT SWIMMING SWEEPS NORTHEAST-10 WEEKLY ACCOLADES; VOLLEYBALL AND WOMEN'S SOCCER ALSO EARN TOP HONORS

SENIOR LIKICA GRCEVA

SMITHFIELD, RI - The Bryant University men's and women's swim teams swept the Northeast-10 Conference weekly honors after a successful season-opening weekend against Roger Williams University Saturday and at the Bentley Invitational Sunday, as announced by the conference Monday afternoon.

On the men's side, junior Tom Ferrigno (West Chester, Penn.) took the season's first Swimmer of the Week after racing to three weekend wins. Ferrigno took first in the 200-yard IM (2:03.21) in Saturday's win over Roger Williams and touched the wall first in the 200-yard backstroke in both Saturday's home meet (2:04.85) and at the Bentley Invitational on Sunday (2:01.98). Ferrigno also raced in the winning 400-yard medley relay team on Saturday.

Sophomore Jess Looney (Goffstown, NH) took Swimmer of the Week for the women after capturing first in the 200-yard IM (2:15.84) against Roger Williams and the 200-yard backstroke (2:15.43) at the Bentley Invitational. Looney also came away with a third-place finish at Bentley in the 200-yard freestyle.

Bulldog rookie Steven Nyugen (San Jose, Calif.) took the first men's Freshman of the Week of the season, sharing the honors with Pace's Yoshi Kameyama. Nyugen swam to first-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle (1:50.22) and the 500-yard freestyle (5:03.58) and was a member of the winning 400-yard medley relay Saturday.

On the weekend, the men beat Roger Williams, 115-78, and took fifth at the Bentley Invitational.

On the women's side, freshman Jill Squillante (Sayville, NY) led Bryant to a 116-89 Saturday win and a fifth-place finish of their own on Sunday, taking first in the 50-yard freestyle (26:69) and the 200-yard backstroke (2:19.43) against Roger Williams and second in the 100-yard freestyle at Bentley. Squillante also led off Bryant's winning 400-yard medley relay Saturday.

Other Bulldogs to garner Player of the Week honors were volleyball senior Likica Grceva (Natick, Mass.) who averaged 5.18 kills and 3.55 digs per game in three wins en route to her fifth Player of the Week honor of the season. Bryant moved up to No. 2 in the region in the latest NCAA regional poll.

From the pitch, it was frosh Kim Rich (Lancaster, Mass.) who earned Freshman of the Week accolades for women's soccer after a two-goal performance in a 2-0 win over Pace in the regular-season finale last Tuesday.

Multiple Bulldogs were named to the Northeast-10 Weekly Honor Roll. From women's soccer, goalkeeper Jessica Clark (Barnstable, Mass.) recorded her seventh shutout of the season in a 2-0 conference quarterfinal win over UMass Lowell, while senior Diane Pascale (Plymouth, Mass.) and sophomore Holly Tyser (Somers, Conn.) each scored in the same win.

Field hockey's Shana Libman (Attleboro, Mass.) picked up an honorable mention with Bryant's lone goal in a 3-1 loss to Saint Anselm, while men's soccer's Manny Rodriguez (North Branford, Conn.) earned the same honor for the Bulldogs' only goal in a 2-1 loss in penalty kicks to UMass Lowell. Both losses came in the NE-10 quarterfinals.

From the court, volleyball senior Tiffany Garry (Frankfort, Ill.) averaged 11.55 assists and 1.18 service aces per game this week, recording 12 service aces in a 3-0 win over Southern Connecticut. The 12 aces tie a Bryant record.