MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- Resolve is everything in volleyball. Rallying to win when the chips are down shows the true character of a team.
Welcome to Advanced Character 740 Barry volleyball.
Indeed, the Buccaneers showed their mettle in fighting back in a match where Sunshine State Conference rival Lynn had built some momentum in pulling within a set of handing Barry a loss in its home opener. Yet the Bucs said so long to mudslides when things weren't going their way, pulling out a 25-21, 24-26, 17-25, 25-22, 15-12 win Tuesday night at Health & Sports Center in front of 623 fans on Scholar-Athlete Recognition night.
"We showed that we can come back and fight and win a match, and not lose at home," Buccaneers assistant coach Katie McCrath said. "They're a seasoned team, so beating Lynn early in the season is a big boost for us."
Barry (7-4, 2-1 SSC) knocked off a team that received four votes in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, handing Lynn (8-2, 1-2 SSC) its second league loss in the first week of conference play. And the Bucs did it by rallying when their backs were against the wall.
After dropping the second and third sets, Barry dug deep in the fourth set after falling behind, 14-11. Barry's sophomore transfer Jayla Trombley fired off an ace in one of her five straight service points to push the Buccaneers ahead, 17-14. Lynn tied it at 19-19, and took the lead on the ensuing serve when Brittany Brown's attack hit the floor. Ashley Carrero's kill helped Barry knot the score at 21-21, and Alicia Guerrero's kill extended the lead to two.
Following a pair of sideout service errors, Barry's Tania Torres unleashed one of her match-high 19 kills to tie the match at 2-2.
"I loved the way we came back to fight after our senior captain left the match," McCrath said of a team that grinded through 37 tie scores and 17 lead changes during the match.
For sure, the tide was ever-changing. Ebb and flow was an understatement.
The Buccaneers zoomed out to a 6-1 lead in the fifth set when Torres sent one of Mima Hajdukovic's 38 assists to unoccupied territory. Lynn responded with a 6-2 run, touched off by Shannon Dugan's ace. But after Bucs coach Steve Hendricks called for a timeout, Torres sent a torpedo to the floor to give Barry a 9-7 lead.
Carrero's kill, following one by Hajdukovic, extended the Bucs' lead to 11-8. Lynn ripped off the next three points to tie it on Brianna Cox's putaway. Hajdukovic and Carrero sandwiched kills between a Barry service error, and a pair of Fighting Knights' attack errors sealed the deal.
Mariana Lisboa had five kills, 11 digs and a solo block, while hitting .400. Hajdukovic added nine kills, three block assists and an ace. Jasmine Serna finished with 30 digs, five assists and one of Barry's six aces. Torres tacked on two aces and six digs to her stat line. Carrero had 13 kills and six digs, and Laine Cielena helped account for four of Barry's seven blocks.
The Buccaneers will host Florida Tech Friday at 7 p.m. The Panthers, who did not play Tuesday, enter the match with an 8-4 overall, 0-2 league record.
SIDEOUT: Barry University Human Performance & Leisure Sciences Assistant Dean Maritza Ryder, who oversees academic progress for student-athletes, recognized 112 students who achieved grade point averages above 3.2 for the spring 2012 semester during a break in the match. Of Barry's 200-plus student-athletes, 18 received President's List honors for achieving a grade point average of 4.0 during the spring.