Volleyball Advances To ECC Championship Final With Four-Set Win Over NYIT

Oakdale, N.Y.-The University of Bridgeport women's volleyball team advanced to the finals of the 2011 East Coast Conference Championship Tournament with a four-set win over the NYIT Bears on Friday night, 25-19, 11-25, 25-21, 25-8, in a contest played at Dowling College.  UB will play host Dowling on Saturday night at 5:00 p.m. in the 2011 ECC Championship Final with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship Tournament which will begin on Thursday.  Dowling swept C.W. Post to move into Saturday's final.   Bridgeport is now 18-6 overall, and the Bears slip to 19-8.

Senior Fernanda Costa (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and freshman Biljana Savic (Novi Sad, Serbia) led the Purple Knights' offense as they each had 12 kills.   Both Costa and Savic also notched double-doubles, each contributing 13 digs.  Junior Taylor McBeth (Langley, BC, Canada) led the Bridgeport defense with a team-high 19 digs.

Senior setter Tamara Leite (Natal, Brazil) directed the Bridgeport offense with 37 assists, and she also chipped in nine digs and four block assists.

Freshman Larissa Oliveira (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) also played a strong match leading the UB defense at the net with seven total blocks (one solo and six block assists), plus she had seven kills and five digs.