UB Volleyball Goes 1-1 At Day One Of Post Invitational

Waterbury, Conn.-The University of Bridgeport women's volleyball team opened its 2021 road schedule on Friday by playing two matches at the Post University Invitational, and the Purple Knights went 1-1 falling in five sets against the University of New Haven to start the day and then sweep the host Post University Eagles to wrap up action on Friday.  With the split, the Purple Knights are now 2-2 on the early season.

The Purple Knights opened action on Friday with an epic, back-and-forth five-set tussle with the University of New Haven that saw the Chargers nip UB, 23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 17-19.  The match featured a total of 34 ties and 16 lead changes.

Senior Amanda Keller (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) led the Bridgeport offense versus the Charges putting down 21 kills with a .415 hitting percentage (21 k-4 e-41 ta).  Keller was joined in double-digit kills by freshman Paola Hernandez (Bayamon, P.R.) with 16 and senior Emily Burford (Albuquerque, N.M.) with 12.  Both Hernandez and Burford also registered double-double against New Haven, as Paola finished with 11 digs, and Emily led UB with 18 digs.

Freshman Jaden Drollinger (Queens Creek, Ariz.) directed the Bridgeport offense with 52 assists on Friday's first match, and she also chipped in eight digs and seven kills.

Graduate student Amanda Hennemann (Nova Petropolis, Brazil) had 15 digs versus UNH, and freshman Melanie Smith (Ft. Collins, Colo.) had 13 digs and seven kills in Friday's opener.

Bridgeport ended the long day with a 25-20, 26-24, 25-18 victory over Post University.

Emily Burford was red-hot on offense in the win over the Eagles slamming 12 kills with no errors on 17 swings (.706 hitting percentage).

Jaden Drollinger had a fine match dishing off 29 assists for the winners and notching six service aces.

Amanda Hennemann led UB on defense with eight digs in the nightcap.

The UB women's volleyball team will close out play at the Post University Invitation on Saturday evening with a single match taking on Southern Connecticut State at 5:00 p.m.