Just five points away from advancing to the Northeast Conference finals, the Central Connecticut volleyball team dropped two straight matches against rival Bryant. 

Neither team shied away from the pressure in the first set. The Blue Devils tied the game nine separate times, most notably after trailing 16-12. A kill from Eline van Heijningen would tie the game at 21, which was the first of five unanswered CCSU points that won them the first set.

The first set loss lit a fire in the Bulldogs, who quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Four Bryant errors and an ace from Emma Henderson helped Central take a 6-5 lead. Bryant would take the lead again by way of another five-point run, but the Blue Devils stormed back and tied the set at 16 after a kill from Madelyn Kaprelyan. The Bulldogs lead the rest of the way, narrowly winning 25-23 to tie the match.

The two teams continued with more back and forth action in the third set. After Bryant tied the game at five, CCSU again took advantage of errors from Bryant, using three en route to a run that put them up 10-5.

A Bryant timeout proved critical, as they went on a 7-1 run that put them back into the lead. Trailing by five late, the Blue Devils did not go down without a fight. Two kills each from Henderson and Kaprelyan would seal the third set, taking another close set 25-23.

Fighting off elimination, Bryant quickly held a 7-3 lead in the fourth set. The Blue Devils would tie the game at eight after a Henderson kill, but three straight errors from Central would hand Bryant the lead back.

Not ready to throw in the towel yet, the Blue Devils would rip off a 7-0 run that put them back into the lead with a 17-15 score, highlighted by two straight aces from senior Kaitlyn Kushman. Both teams exchanged points after this, setting up a tie game at 20. Just five points away from advancing to the championship, the Blue Devils would give up five straight points, losing them the set and forcing an overtime fifth set to 15.

Still rolling from their run to end the fourth set, Bryant took a 5-1 lead in almost an instant. With their backs to the wall, the Blue Devils would score four straight to bring them to within one. The score would not come closer than this, as Bryant was able to close out the set and match with two straight points, winning the match 15-11.

The Blue Devils finished the season with a 13-13 overall record and a 10-4 in-conference record. Kaprelyan took home NEC player of the year, posting career highs in kills (308), digs (134) and points (359.5). Junior Gala Galabova put together a monster season on defense, leading the NEC in blocks per set (1.26).

Henderson served up aces all year, finishing with 42 on the year.