Volleyball Completes Third Straight 2-1 Weekend

Saturday, September 14

Lewisburg, Pa.

12:00 PM

Bucknell University

Canisius

9/14/2013 11:50:00 AM | Volleyball

By: TBD

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell volleyball team won the first two sets of both of its matches Saturday, but came away with two different outcomes on the final day of its own invitational. The Bison captured the first two sets of the day's opening match against Canisius, but ended up dropping a 3-2 decision. A few hours later they won the first two sets against Rider and this time came away with a 3-1 victory over a squad that had won eight of its first nine matches in 2013.

The two-day Bucknell Invitational began Friday with the Bison posting a 3-2 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson. The Bison have now gone 2-1 each of their first three weekends this season and are off to their best start since opening the 2005 campaign 7-3.

"I am really proud of the way we bounced back from a tough match earlier in the day," said Bucknell first-year head coach Anna Allison following the Rider win. "The team is doing a great job of not letting the previous game affect them, and you have to have that in Patriot League play because you play back-to-back days. This tournament and last week's tournament at Cornell were really good for us in terms of our preparation for league play. We were able to try some new things and see how far we could push, so we know what we have to work on. On Monday, everything starts over."

Sophomore Karen Campbell (16 kills, 9 block assists on Saturday) and freshman Jordan Walker (22 kills, 5 block assists) were Bucknell's representatives on the All-Tournament Team, which was rounded out by MVP Emily Elek (Canisius), Lauren Siebert (Canisius), Kaitlyn Griffin (Rider) and Allison Butler (Fairleigh Dickinson).

Morgan Mientus also had a strong day on Saturday with 12 kills and double-figure digs in each match, while Keane Brazda totaled 59 assists. Katie Price's 42 combined digs paced the squad.

Against Rider, the Bison won a close first set, 28-26, and then captured the second set 25-16 after tallying 11 of the final 15 points. The Broncs came back to win the back-and-forth third set that featured five lead changes 25-21. Bucknell trailed just once in the fourth set as it jumped out to an early 10-5 advantage and capitalized on three Rider attack and service errors down the stretch.

Mientus led the way with 12 kills against the Broncs, while Walker added 10. Campbell posted six kills and no errors, while Kristen Titley recorded nine kills and just one error. Erika Eastley chipped in six block assists to push her season total to 37.

Overall, the Bison had a balanced attack opposite Rider (8-2) as four players had at least nine kills, three players reached double figures in digs, two players had at least 20 assists and six different people registered at least one block.

The Canisius match featured neither team winning a set by more than five points as Bucknell claimed the first two, 25-22 and 25-20. The Golden Griffins then won the final three 25-23, 25-23 and 15-12. After never leading in the third and fourth sets, Bucknell came back from a 2-0 deficit in the fifth set to take a 5-2 lead. However, Canisius (2-8) scored six of the final nine points for the match victory.

Jessica Serrato paced five players with double figure kills with 13. Brazda (35) and Meghan Wentzel (22) each had more than 20 assists, while Jackie Beyer and Campbell piled up six block assists apiece.

After three straight weekends of tournament play, Bucknell will open Patriot League play next weekend. The Bison will play at Holy Cross on Friday and at Army on Saturday.