BRYANT VOLLEYBALL BACK IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
SMITHFIELD, RI - For the tenth time in the program's history,
the Bryant University volleyball team is headed to the NCAA
tournament. In fact, postseason trips have become the norm for the
Bulldogs in recent years. This Thursday's first round matchup
will mark the seventh-straight time Bryant coach Theresa Garlacy
has led her team to the NCAA Regional.
Bryant (21-18) will be the No. 7 seed of the 2006 Northeast
Regional and will square off with the second-seeded Falcons at 5
p.m. Thursday at the University of New Haven. This will be
the third meeting of the year between Bryant and Bentley and the
second since the two teams met in the Northeast-10 Conference
semifinals last Saturday at Bryant, won by Bentley by a score of
3-1.
This won't be the first time these two conference
rivals have met in postseason play. Prior to last Saturday's
meeting, Bentley ended Bryant's season last year in the NCAA
Regional tournament semifinals, 3-2, only a week before falling to
the Bulldogs in the conference championship match, 3-2.
In 2002, Bryant and Bentley met in the 2002 NCAA
Northeast Regional semifinals, which was hosted by the University
of New Haven. Bryant won that match, 3-2 to earn its first
trip to the regional finals where the Bulldogs would eventually
fall to the host Chargers 3-0.
This year's team finished third in the Northeast-10
Conference regular season and have a record of 1-8 against teams in
this year's regional championship. The only win was against
NYIT (3-0) on Sept. 1.
NCAA NORTHEAST REGIONAL SCHEDULE @ West Haven,CT
Thursday,Nov. 9
Gm. 1 No. 4 NYIT (18-7) vs. No. 5 Saint Rose (25-5), 12 pm
Gm. 2 No. 1 Dowling (33-6) vs. No. 8 Georgian Court (21-10),
2:30 pm
Gm. 3 No. 2 Bentley (26-10) vs. No. 7 Bryant (21-18), 5
pm
Gm. 4 No. 3 New Haven (23-13) vs. No. 6 C.W. Post (21-12),
7:30 pm
Friday, Nov. 10
Gm. 5 Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 5 pm
Gm. 6 Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 7:30 pm
Saturday, Nov. 11
Gm. 7 Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6, 5 pm
THE BULLDOGS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Bryant is making its ninth appearance in the NCAA tournament this
weekend, qualifying for the NCAA Regional seven-straight
times. The Bulldogs earned the automatic bid into the
NCAA Championships by winning the program's third straight
(sixth overall) Northeast-10 Conference Championship with a 3-2 win
in the final over Bentley College. Last year, Bryant fell in
the regional semifinal to host Queens (NY), 3-1 after defeating
Mercy 3-1 in the quarterfinals. Prior to that, Bryant had
advanced to the regional final in 2002 and 2003, falling to host
New Haven and host Queens respectively in the regional
finals. Overall, Bryant is 7-8 (.467) in NCAA tournament
play.
Bryant in the NCAA's
1994 - def. Springfield 3-2, lost New Haven 0-3 (at West
Haven, CT)
1997 - lost New Haven 1-3 (at West Haven, CT)
1999 - lost New Haven 0-3 (at West Haven, CT)
2000 - lost Queens 1-3 (at West Haven, CT)
2001 - def. NYIT 3-1, lost Mercy 1-3 (at West Haven, CT)
2002 - def. UMass Lowell 3-1, def. Bentley 3-2, lost New Haven 0-3
(at West Haven, CT)
2003 - def. UMass Lowell 3-0, def. New Haven 3-0, lost Queens 1-3
(at Queens, NY)
2004 - def. Mercy 3-1, lost Queens 1-3 (at Queens, NY)
2005 - def. NYIT 3-0, lost Bentley 2-3 (at Smithfield, RI)
CEGARRA AND GARRY NAMED FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE /
DAKTRONICS FIRST TEAM SELECTION
Bryant senior middle Jess Cegarra
(Danville, NH) and junior setter Tiffany Garry (Frankfort, IL) were
recognized as First Team All-Northeast-10 Conference selections in
2006. Both were Second Team All-Conference selections in
2005. Cegarra, the owner of Bryant's all-time career blocks
record with 532, leads the team with 522 kills and 116 blocks this
season. To put it into perspective, last year's regional player of
the year Michelle Muniz tallied 570 kills and 78 service aces.
Garry, the NE-10 Setter of the Year in 2004
(freshman) and 2005 (sophomore), is enjoying perhaps her finest
season running the Bulldog offense as junior. Garry is averaging
10.96 assists per game and leads the Bulldogs with 85 service aces.
On Wednesday, both Cegarra and Garry were named First Team
Daktronics All-Region.
BULLDOG SEASON UPDATE
The Bulldogs entered 2006 with a big offensive questionmark
surrounding the loss of four-time player of the year Michelle Muniz
who graduated with more than 2,000 career kills. After a slow
start to the season that saw the team go 0-5 during a swing through
California that featured matchups with four nationally-ranked
teams, the Bulldogs rebounded nicely with a 3-0 win over NYIT and
Queens on Sept. 1. The play of Cegarra and Garry helped carry
the team but newcomer Likica Grceva, a junior transfer from
Maryland-Eastern Shore, helped give the team added power to the
outside. Grceva is second on the team with 312 kills (2.79
per game) and has 226 digs on the year. Freshman middle
Morgan Wood has been very consistent as a starting middle.
Wood has 243 kills in 132 games and is second with 104 kills in her
first season. Fellow classmate Julie Geonnotti has come on
strong as of late. The freshman outside hitter comes into
this weekend's tourney with 212 kills and 296 digs. Senior's
Vanessa Lavallee and Beth Schlatterer give the team assistance when
it comes to offense while Elysce Tackmann has been a steady
defensive weapon on the court. This will be the fourth trip to the
NCAA tournament for all four seniors.
