Volleyball Begins 2010 With Four-Set Win Over Holy Family

West Haven, Conn.-The University of Bridgeport volleyball team, coming off the most successful season in school history last year when they fell just one match shy of capturing the NCAA Division II East Regional title,  opened the 2010 campaign with a four-set win over the Holy Family University Tigers at the University of New Haven Classic on Friday night.

The Purple Knights dropped the contest's first set, 19-25, but UB quickly rebounded to win the next three sets, 25-19, 25-18 and 25-16.

Three Bridgeport players reached double-figures in kills in the season-opening win led by senior Terry Masava (Nairobi, Kenya), who had match-high 18 kills.  Masava played a solid all-round match registering 25 digs and two total blocks.  Terry was joined in double-figure kills by graduate students Agatha Baliddawa (Jinja, Uganda) with 12 and Ivana Kovacevic-Jurasin (Belgrade, Serbia), who also had 12.  Baliddawa was also a factor on defense at the net with three block assists.

Newcomer, junior Tamara Leite (Natal, Brazil) made her Bridgeport debut at the setter position dishing out 38 assists.

Sophomore Taylor McBeth (Langley, B.C., Canada) had a fine contest on defense for the Purple Knights, as she led the team with 26 digs.

UB concludes play at the New Haven Classic on Saturday, as they face a pair of quality regional opponents in Bentley University at 11:30 a.m. and the host New Haven Chargers at 2:00 p.m.