Volleyball Falls at No. 1 Seed Bentley, 3-1, in NCAA East Regional

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WALTHAM, Mass. – Playing in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons, the University of Bridgeport's volleyball team dropped a four-set matchup (23-25, 25-11, 25-15, 25-16) at top-seeded Bentley in the first round of the East Regional on Thursday night in Waltham, Mass. The CACC Champion Purple Knights close their season with an overall record of 12-18.

UB hit .282 in the opening frame and earned a 25–23 win, but the offense cooled from there, finishing the match with a .114 hitting percentage on 37 kills.

Junior Hailey Jessen, the CACC Tournament MVP, led the Purple Knights with a double-double effort, posting 14 kills and 11 digs while taking a team-high 53 swings.

Jessen concludes her sensational campaign with averages of 3.76 kills and 2.50 digs per set. She was named to the CACC's All-Conference First Team earlier this fall.

Senior Lucia Tomiello, another All-Conference honoree, added seven kills on an efficient .375 hitting, and freshman Cecilia Kowalski chipped in five kills while matching Tomiello's .375 clip.

Tomiello finishes out her UB tenure with sensational career numbers. The Italian put together 1,066 kills, 514 digs and 272 blocks over her four Bridgeport seasons.

In addition to Kowalski, another two UB freshmen, Madison Mohan and Camdyn Cieszkiewicz, also contributed to the UB attack on Thursday.

Mohan ranked third on UB with six putaways while Camdyn Cieszkiewicz piled up 30 assists and 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the year. Cieszkiewicz also recorded both of UB's service aces.  

Junior libero Elaine DeLallo anchored the back row with a team-best 20 digs, helping UB total 54 on the night.

Bridgeport generated a pair of service aces and put up a pair of team blocks, but Bentley countered with 15 aces and 10 blocks to swing momentum in the later sets.