Volleyball Falls in Two Matches at Brown Invitational

The Central Connecticut volleyball team dropped its final two matches at the Brown Invitational in Providence, RI, on Saturday. CCSU fell to Brown, 3-2, and Binghamton, 3-0. The Blue Devils record moves to 5-7 on the season following the weekend's action.

Match 1: Brown 3, CCSU 2

The Blue Devils fell to the Bears in five sets to open the day's action. Brown won the match, 23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 24-26, 15-11.

Freshman Madelyn Kaprelyan and sophomore Raquel Quirarte led CCSU with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Quirarte added 10 digs for the double-double. Senior Rachel Fish was one of five CCSU players with double-digit digs with a team-high 28. Sophomore Kaitlyn Kushman had 21 assists and senior Maddie Smith had eight total blocks.

Central broke a 16-all tie in the opening set on consecutive kills by Smith and freshman Morgan Woycik to take a lead it would not reliquish and went onto take the set, 25-23.

Brown responded to take the next two sets. Central led 10-9 in the second set, but the Bears would reverse the tide and go ahead, 20-13, and take the set, 25-18. The Blue Devils led throughout the third set and were ahead, 20-18, before Brown closed the set on a 7-2 spurt to take the set.

Central would bounce back and extend the match with a win in the fourth set. CCSU trailed, 15-10, before Kaprelyan would account for four kills during a spurt that CCSU would go ahead, 18-17. Consecutive kills from senior Brooke Schwab and Kushman would give Central a 26-24 win in the set.

Brown took the decisive set after breaking a 10-10 tie with a 5-1 run to close out the set and won the match, 3-2.

Match 2: Binghamton 3, CCSU 0

Central fell in three sets to Binghamton in its final match of the weekend. The Bearcats won 25-10, 25-23, 25-14.

Woycik led the way with a team-high 11 kills. Fish had 13 digs and freshman Erin McDermott added 10. Kushman had 11 assists.

CCSU was within 5-4 following a kill from Woycik in the opening set before Binghamton took control with five straight points. The Bearcats would extend the lead to 20-6 with seven unanswered points before taking the set, 25-10.

Central led 6-5 in the second set after a kill from senior Erika Jones. Binghamton would rattle off eight straight points en route to building a 15-7 margin. Trailing, 20-13, Smith got a kill for Central to spark a run of six straight points. The Blue Devils would trim the deficit to one point three more times, before Binghamton won the set, 25-23.

Woycik would give Central an early lead with a kill in the third set, but Binghamton came back to take the lead. The Bearcats would roll off five straight points to lead 19-10 and then scored the final four points of the set to win, 25-14, and take the match.

Brown Invitational All-Tournament Team
Kristella Morina, Binghamton
Erin Shultz, Binghamton
Sarah Lucenti, Brown
Rachel Fish, Central Connecticut State
Jordan Abalos, New Mexico State (Most Valuable Player)
Brianna Ainsworth, New Mexico State

Central opens Northeast Conference play at Robert Morris on Saturday, September 24, and then play at Saint Francis U. on Sunday.