Bison Volleyball emerged victorious in its third game of the season, taking down the Runnin’ Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb University 3-1 (27-25, 24-26, 25-15, 25-19). They competed in the Liberty Tournament hosted at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.
This lone victory came after two losses in the team’s first two games against Stony Brook and Liberty. The Bison struggled early to find traction to compete, but were able to find momentum in the third game.
Bucknell topped Gardner-Webb in the kills column (56-46) and the errors column (26-34) despite being out-attempted by the Bulldogs (183-172). The Bison proved very efficient with their hitting percentage being just over 17 percent while Gardner-Webb struck just under seven percent of its attempts.
2022 Patriot League Rookie of the Year Bri Frazilus ’26 led the way for Bucknell with 15 kills and two blocks. Frazilus responded to the preseason hype she was receiving, leading by herself or with teammates in the kills column in each game over the course of the Liberty Tournament. Libby Nieporte ’24 and Catherine Jamison ’24 were next in line with ten kills each in the victory against Gardner-Webb.
After two non-competitive losses to start the event, the Blue and Orange displayed great poise to get straight back on the court and collect a win.
“I would say that our team did a good job of keeping our heads up after losing the day before,” Frazilus said. “We demonstrated resilience and a positive mindset in acknowledging the setback, learning from it and using it as a stepping stone for growth.”
Frazilus is ready for a big sophomore campaign after being the best rookie in the Patriot League a year ago.
“There’s obviously some pressure to perform, knowing that people are watching to see if I will exceed expectations after making 2022 Patriot League Rookie of the Year. At the same time, I am confident in my abilities, and I know I have an amazing support system of a team that has my back. I’m super excited to compete for Player of the Year and work hard to continue to be an impact player for our team,” she said.
Bison Volleyball is staying in Lewisburg this weekend as they host the Bucknell Invitational, competing against William & Mary, Cornell and Princeton.
