November 12, 2007

BRYANT VOLLEYBALL SELECTED TO 11TH NCAA TOURNAMENT
Bulldogs The No. 2 Seed of Regional; Face Adelphi In Opening Round

NCAA REGIONAL LINK (Live Stats/Audio Broadcast) 

SMITHFIELD, RI --  The Bryant University women's volleyball team has been selected to participate in the 2007 NCAA Division II Tournament Championship set to begin this weekend at Dowling University's campus in Oakdale, NY.  The Bulldogs are the No. 2 seed of the tournament and will face seventh-seed Adelphi in the first round at 2:30 pm Thursday. 

Bryant (30-12), the 2007 Northeast-10 Conference regular season and tournament champions, will be making its ninth consecutive NCAA appearance and 11th overall under 12th year coach Theresa Garlacy.  The Bulldogs are 8-10 all-time in NCAA tournament matches, last year falling to Bentley in the first round of the regional held at New Haven.

This will be the second meeting of the year between Bryant and Adelphi with the Panthers (27-6) defeating the Bulldogs 3-0 back on October 6 on Long Island. 

Bryant is led by senior standout Likica Grceva (Natick, Mass.) who leads the NE-10 with 608 kills on the year and is averaging 4.28 kills per game.  The senior was named the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament MVP in powering the Bulldogs past Merrimack last Saturday for the program's fifth NE-10 title. 

Senior setter Tiffany Garry (Frankfort, IL) a first team all-conference selection along with Grceva, is averaging 10.70 assists per game and is ranked 13th nationally with .77 service aces per game (106 total).  She was named the 2007 NE-10 Setter of the Year, her third Setter of the Year honor in her career.

Sophomore middle hitter Morgan Wood (Cedar Park, TX), junior libero Maureen Atkins (Fenton, MO) and freshman middle hitter Adrienne Boss (Dracut, Mass.) were all named third team all-conference this season.  Wood has played consistently well all season long and enters the tournament hitting .244 offensively  with 32 service aces and 113 blocks.  Atkins has been solid defensively, leading the team with 547 digs while Boss has enjoyed a tremendous freshman season.  The middle leads the team with 139 blocks (1.07 per game) and is fourth with 267 kills.

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2007 NCAA DIVISION II NORTHEAST REGIONAL
November 15-17, 2007 @ Oakdale, NY

Thursday, Nov. 15
No. 3 New Haven (23-6) vs. No. 6 CW Post (17-15), 12:00 pm
No. 2 Bryant (30-12) vs. No. 7 Adelphi (27-6), 2:30 pm
No. 4 Bentley (23-9) vs. No. 5 Georgian Court (30-8), 5:00 pm
No. 1 Dowling (36-7) vs. No. 8 Merrimack (19-13), 7:30 pm

Friday, Nov. 16
Bryant / Adelphi winner vs. New Haven / CW Post winner, 5:00 pm
Dowling / Merrimack winner vs. Bentley / Georgian Court winner, 7:30 pm

Saturday, Nov. 17
Championship, 7 pm