WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Barry University's volleyball team went 3-1 to open the season, securing a pair of wins Saturday.
The Buccaneers swept Kentucky State, 25-19, 25-22, 25-19, in its third match at Palm Beach Atlantic's Hyatt Place Classic. The win Saturday morning was the Buccaneers' second region victory of the season. In the evening, the Bucs beat Quincy (Ill.) 27-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-21.
The Buccaneers wasted little time setting the tone in an efficient performance against Kentucky State despite being tested throughout, and went on to hit .258 while outblocking the Thorobreds, 6-1.
Eva Raat's kill gave Barry a 16-13 lead in the first set. After Kentucky State (0-3) came back to tie it up on an Alicia Fowler service ace, the Bucs and Thorobreds traded sideouts through a 19-19 standstill. But senior newcomer Kristina Boncheva, a former Bulgarian National Team member who spent the past three years with the Buccaneers rowing team, pounded two kills, and Katie Dooley and Victoria Fajardo put up a big block to move the Buccaneers within a point of wrapping up the first set. Fajardo slammed down the final point to give Barry a 1-0 lead in the match.
Fajardo, a transfer from Scottsdale Community College, had six kills and hit .250 in her third NCAA Division II match.
Paola Buitrago served Barry to a 10-6 lead in the second set before KSU's Ileen Brown eventually put the Thorobreds ahead 13-11. Kentucky State's Emily Grieshaber put her team up 21-19 with a kill, but Bucs kills by Tashalyn Begon and Dooley knotted the second set at 22-22. Begon served the final three points, highlighted by an ace and Fajardo kill to send the Buccaneers to a 2-0 lead in the match.
Begon finished with eight kills, 13 digs, two aces and a block.
Raat's kill in the third set gave Barry an 11-7 lead, and Boncheva terminated a putaway for a 19-13 Bucs lead as part of a 5-1 run that pulled Barry within five points of the win before securing the second sweep of the tournament. Barry also beat Barton, 3-0, for its first region win.
Boncheva had seven kills. Brittany Jaco 17 digs and Jenny Trinidad and Jasmine Serna combined for 31 assists in a shared setting role.
In the win over Quincy, three Bucs had double-digit kills as the Bucs produced a .236 attack percentage, indluding .438 and .444 marks in the first and third sets, respectively. Begon had 12 kills, Laine Cielena 11 kills and three blocks, and Jayla Trombley 10 kills and 15 digs.
Begon and Cielena had kills to push the Buccaneers within a point of closing out the first set. But the Hawks responded by reeling off the next three points to tie it at 24-24. Cielena and Raat each pounded kills to put the opening set away.
After Quincy hit .250 in the second set, cooling off from the .400 in the opening set, to even it up at 1-1, the Bucs put down 15 of its 51 kills in the third set to take a 2-1 lead. Raat's kill gave Barry a 10-3 lead. Quincy's Rachael Binash served up an ace to pull the Hawks within 13-9 before Trombley had a kill, and Trinidad fired off an ace.
Emily Lindemulder served five straight points, the last two aces, as Quincy drew within 18-17. Cielena quited the storm with a kill, and added another a sideout later to give the Bucs a 19-17 edge. After a Bucs setting error, Trombley banged down a kill to make it 22-20. Samantha Haegele's kill brought the Hawks back to within one, but Raat and Cielena each had kills and a Quincy hitting error gave Barry a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the decisive set, Ivana Didanovic's kill on a setup from Trinidad gave Barry a 16-10 lead. Quincy rattled off four straight points to cut it to 23-19, but Trombley pounded her 10th kill, and after a pair of Hawks' kills, Barry wrapped up the win on a Quincy attack error.
Trinidad had 24 assists, Didanovic seven kills and three blocks, and Raat nine kills and two blocks. Jaco had a season-high 26 digs, and Serna 18 assists, 12 digs and an ace.