SMITHFIELD, R.I.— The Long Island University volleyball team battled back to beat Bryant, 3-2  (21-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 15-9), on Friday evening at the Chace Athletic Center. LIU improves to 9-16 on the season and 8-5 in Northeast Conference play, Bryant falls to 15-15 overall and 10-4 in conference play.

The Sharks received double-digit kills from four different players against the Bulldogs. Senior Kora Schaberl led the way with a match-high 18 kills and finished just shy of a double-double with nine digs. Freshman Barbora Hoskova tallied 12 kills and added a match-high 20 digs for her first career double-double. Rookie Miranda Strongman added 12 kills on a team-high .435 hitting percentage. Fellow Rookie Karolina Nova added 10 kills for LIU.

Senior Amanda Hubbard dished out 42 assists on the night and added three kills for the LIU offense. Sophomore Anastasia Scott tallied 18 digs and three service aces. The Sharks have now played six five-set matches on the season, earning four victories.

Bryant charged out to a 5-2 lead to open the match but the Sharks were quick to answer with a pair of kills by Schaberl and one kill from Hoskova to tie it up at 5-5. It was back and forth action from there with LIU holding the slight lead. The Bulldogs regained the lead on a three-point run to take a 14-12 advantage. The Sharks used a 5-1 stretch thanks in part to several Bryant errors to jump in front 17-15 lead. Bryant clawed back to tie the set up at 19-19 before both teams traded points for a 21-21 standstill. The Bulldogs closed the set four-point run to take the opening set 25-21.

The Bulldogs carried the strong showing over to the second set with an early 8-5 lead. LIU used a 7-2 stretch led by kills from rookies Hoskova, Strongman and Darragh Dixon shortly after to jump ahead 12-10. The Sharks continued to command the lead to the 17-15 mark before Bryant went on a three-point run to take the lead 18-17. LIU was right there to answer with a three-point run of their own on a pair of kills by Hoskova to take the lead back 20-18 and force the Bulldogs to take their final timeout. Out of the break, Bryant went on a 5-2 stretch to take back the lead 23-22. The Sharks ended the set on a three-point run as a kill from Schaberl capped the 25-23 second set win.

Bryant's strong start to begin each set continued in the third with a 12-6 lead early. LIU would grab five of the next eight points with a service ace from Schaberl, cutting the deficit to three at 15-12. The Bulldogs pushed the lead back to seven thanks to a 5-1 stretch to jump ahead 20-13. The Sharks went on one last charge with a 4-1 stretch as a kill from Strongman cut the deficit to four at 21-17. Bryant grabbed four of the last six points to earn a 25-19 third set win.

The fourth frame began with back-and-forth play before the Sharks grabbed two straight points on kills by Nova and Strongman to take a 8-7 lead. After a Bulldogs kill tied things up, LIU embarked on a seven point run paced by a pair of kills from Schaberl and two service aces from Scott for the 15-8 lead. LIU continued to lead as the set wore on but Bryant put in what final scare with an 8-2 stretch late as the Sharks were at set point, 24-23. A kill from freshman Fleur Wiersma sealed the set to force the deciding fifth game.

Momentum carried over for the Sharks with a remarkable 10-5 start to the fifth set led by five kills across the board and two big block assists by Hoskova, Nova and Strongman. Bryant eventually cut the deficit to two on a 4-1 run to bring the score to 11-9. LIU had the final say with a four-point closing run to earn the 15-9 set win and earn the victory to open the weekend.

UP NEXT

The Sharks close out the weekend in New England with a 5:00 p.m. match at Merrimack on Saturday, November 9.