MANCHESTER, NH – The Bloomsburg University volleyball team split its matches at the Saint Anselm/Southern New Hampshire Tournament to open the 2021 season. The Huskies defeated Felician 3-1 in their opening match before falling to Saint Anselm 3-0 in their second match of the day.
 
For the day, senior Sydney Buell (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) collected 19 kills and had a .333 hitting percentage. She added three aces, seven digs, and four total blocks. Senior Bryn Stek (Ambler, Pa./Upper Dublin) dished out 40 assists between the two matches and had 20 digs, and led the team with four service aces. Graduate student Alyssa Cianciulli (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II) finished with 39 total digs, including 34 in the opening match, one ace, and four assists.
 
Senior Grace Giza (Plymouth, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) had 13 kills between the two matches and three total blocks while sophomore Liz Bopp (Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria) had 12 kills, three digs, and a team-leading five blocks in her Huskies debut.
 
In the opening match of the day against Felician, Bloomsburg dropped the first set 25-18. After the Huskies pulled to within two, 5-3, thanks to a kil from senior Mary Kate Mooney (Royersford, Pa./Pope John Paul II), Felician built a 17-11 behind a pair of 4-0 runs and a 3-0 run. Bloomsburg began to pick up steam and went back and forth with Felician for the final 15 points but could not overcome the deficit.
 
The Huskies used the momentum from the previous set to jump out to a 5-4 lead in the second set. A kill from Bopp gave the Huskies back the lead, 6-5, and kicked off a 7-2 run for the Huskies to give them a 12-7 lead and control of the set. Felician made a one-point game at 20-19, but a block and a service from Buell and pushed the Huskies lead back to 22-19. The two teams traded the set's final six points and Bloomsburg hung on for a 25-22 win and tie the match at 1-1.
 
Bloomsburg quickly jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the second set and seemed to control the play. The Falcons battled back and took a 16-15 lead after four-straight points. Giza got the serve back to Bloomsburg with a kill and kicked off the three-point run to give BU an 18-16 lead. After a BU service error got the Falcons back to within one, Bloomsburg went on a four-point run and forced Felician to use both of its timeouts. The Falcons came back and cut the lead to 23-21 but a pair of kills from Buell sealed the 25-22 win and the 2-1 match lead.
 
The Huskies controlled the final set from the opening serve until the final ace. With the set tied 3-3, senior Mia Nicholes (North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin) kicked off a four-point Bloomsburg run which gave the Huskies the lead for the rest of the set and match. Mooney closed out the set with a service ace to hand Bloomsburg its first win of the season.
 
The Huskies got out to an early lead in the first set against Saint Anselm in the second match but the Hawks battled back to tie the set at 4-4 and eventually took a 13-10 lead, one which they would not surrender. The Hawks pushed their lead to 18-13 before a service error broke up their run. The Huskies answered with a service error of their own before the Hawks closed out the set on a 7-1 run for the 25-15 win.
 
Saint Anselm got out to the early lead in the second set but the Huskies battled for each point and eventually tied the set at 18-18. The two teams went back and forth for the rest of the set, and eventually tied the game at 23-23. The Huskies earned a set point at 24-23 thanks to a block by Bopp and Giza, but the Hawks tied it at 24-24. Giza's kill on the next play handed Bloomsburg its second set point but three-straight points from the Hawks, including a pair of kills, closed out the set and the 27-25 win.
 
Bloomsburg continued to battle in the final set. Neither team was able to get more than a three-point lead with the Hawks hold the biggest lead at 22-19. Bloomsburg made it a one-point game thanks to a Hawk service error and an ace from Buell, 22-21. After a Saint Anselm timeout, the Hawks forced a service error and earned their first match point with a kill from Lauren Casey. Bloomsburg got a kill from Buell to extend the set and match but the Hawks closed it out with a kill from Casey to win 25-23.
 
The Huskies get right back on the court tomorrow morning for the second day of the Saint Anselm/SNHU tournament. Bloomsburg and SNHU face off at 10:00 am before the Huskies go back to Saint Anselm to face Pace at 1:00 pm.