BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Freshman outside hitter Elyana Ortiz and graduate outside hitter Kristina Peric showed up in a big way for Post University Women's Volleyball in their first of three consecutive conference matches starting on Wednesday night against the University of Bridgeport on the road.
Leading the Eagles to a 3-1 victory, moving them to 2-0 in conference play and 11-2 overall after dropping two of three matches over the weekend, Peric had a team-leading 24 kills, while Ortiz had a career-high 12 kills with a .435 attack percentage to help Post take down the Purple Knights in four sets, 3-1.

THE BASICS

Post University 3, University of Bridgeport 1 

Post University (11-2, 2-0 CACC)

University of Bridgeport (1-12, 1-2 CACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Coming into the match, Post had just two wins against Bridgeport in the all-time series, both of which had occurred between 2022 and 2024, after dropping the first 15 matchups since the two teams started playing each other back in 2002. In fact, before their 25-16 first-set victory tonight, the Eagles had not won a first set in recorded program history against Bridgeport dating back to at least 2004.
Graduate setter Alice DiFrancesco made her return to the floor for Post after missing Saturday's match against Saint Anselm College with an injury, leading the team with 34 assists as she pushes closer and closer to 2,000 career kills. Between her time at Post this season and her previous years at AIC, DiFrancesco now sits at 1,767 assists and leads the team with 393 this season, while recording her fourth straight double-double after adding 12 digs in the win.

The all-time conference digs record continues to inch closer for senior libero Alyssa Groves as well, with 22 more digs to lead Post tonight, bringing her only 379 digs away from the all-time record, which sits at 2,533 digs in a career. Junior outside hitter Vivien Andrea Fehervari had one of her best defensive games of the season tonight, going for 15 digs, just one shy of tying her season-high set three times, while also converting on two service aces and three kills.

Tied at nine in set one following senior middle blocker Lucia Tomiello's service error, Post started a stretch in which they won 11 of the next 12 points to open up a nine-point lead, the same margin they would win that historic set by. Bridgeport responded in kind in set two after a couple of back-and-forth runs resulted in junior outside hitter Hailey Jessen and sophomore defensive specialist Ella Bowman ending set two, 25-22, with back-to-back kills, tying the match at one set all.

Again, set three would feature several runs by both sides to keep the set close until another prolonged stretch run by the Eagles in which they benefited from seven Purple Knight attack errors, spurred a set-changing 9-1 run, giving them a 25-20 win. Bridgeport trailed by nine with Post at set point before Peric's kill finished the job to pull the Eagles within one set of the victory.

In a final set featuring 16 ties and five lead changes, Bridgeport willed their way back into it with a 7-0 run that gave them a three-point lead, 19-16, before Post's responding 3-0 run tied the fourth set up at 19 all. Sophomore defensive specialist Alexa Arnold brought the Eagles to match point with back-to-back service aces, but proceeded to commit an error that led to the Purple Knights tying things up at 24.

After both sides exchanged a point in their favor, junior outside hitter Neeyah Shahid-Stevenson's kill and the 24th kill of the evening by Peric gave the Eagles a 2-0 start to conference play and their second win in three matches against the Purple Knights since the beginning of last season.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Sitting at 2,142 career digs after tonight's match, Alyssa Groves is only 379 digs away from surpassing Chestnut Hill College's Regina Trabosh for the most digs in CACC history, with 2,533 career digs from 2013-16
• Between her time at AIC and Post University, Alice DiFrancesco entered the match with 1,767 career assists, recording 34 assists tonight, she moves to 233 assists away from 2,000 in her career
• Elyana Ortiz finished with a career-high 12 kills and a career-high .435 attack percentage when having more than 20 attempts in a match – Ortiz committed just two errors on 23 total attempts
• For the first time in program history, Post University has won two of its last three head-to-head matches against the University of Bridgeport – The Eagles had lost 15 consecutive matches to start the all-time series back in 2002

 
WHO'S NEXT
Ending their five-game road trip, Post University will head to Goldey-Beacom College to face the Lightning at noon on Saturday. The Eagles have won their last four matches against Goldey-Beacom since the 2022 season, taking them down twice last year after facing off in the CACC Quarterfinals in November.