Taking on the Coastal Athletic Association’s (CAA) top team, the Stony Brook women’s volleyball team won just a single set over the weekend.
The Seawolves (14-12, 7-9 CAA) welcomed the Towson Tigers (22-4, 13-3 CAA) to Pritchard Gymnasium and dropped the opener 3-0 on Saturday. Despite winning its only set on Sunday, Stony Brook dropped both ends of the weekend set, losing 3-1 to wrap up the weekend.
Towson showed up early during Saturday’s first set, going on two separate 5-0 runs early on to move ahead 11-5. After the two traded points, the Tigers were aided by a pair of errors from the Seawolves, going on a 4-1 run that stretched their lead to 22-15. Needing a miraculous comeback, Stony Brook scored four of six points via a kill from middle blocker Ayanna Pierre Louis, two attack errors by Towson outside hitter Zyare Abdul-Rahim and a service ace by outside hitter Kali Moore, cutting the Tigers’ lead to 24-19. However, a kill from Towson outside hitter Victoria Barrett put the set away at 25-19.
The Tigers stayed hot moving into the second set, using a 6-1 run to take an early 11-7 advantage. The Seawolves then returned the favor, using a 6-2 run to tie it at 13 apiece following two kills from outside hitter Quinn Anderson. Knotted at 16-16, Towson exploded with a 7-1 run, spearheaded by three kills from Abdul-Rahim. An error by fellow outside hitter Sarah Callender broke the streak for Towson, but middle blocker Erin Brothers came up with a kill before libero Sydney Stewart served an ace, awarding the Tigers a 25-18 victory.
With the Tigers up 2-0 in the match, the two sides went back and forth in the third set and were stuck in a deadlock at 15-15. Towson then went on another long run, this time scoring nine of 11 points to make it 24-17. The Seawolves tried to stay alive, grabbing two points after an attack error by Abdul-Rahim and a service ace by setter Torri Henry, but a kill by Abdul-Rahim put the match to bed in a 25-19 final set.
“I thought we were a little more one-dimensional than we needed to be tonight,” head coach Kristin Belzung said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “We’ve got to be a little more disciplined to try to take the emotion out of it and just compete.”
Looking to rebound on Sunday, Stony Brook found itself tied up at 13 points each. A bad set by Towson setter Kaitlyn Moran and an attack error by Towson outside hitter Ava Nakai brought Stony Brook up by two, but it would be the Tigers’ game from there. Towson followed with a 5-0 run to make it 18-13, capped off by consecutive aces from setter Jesse Maisie. Following a brief 3-1 run in the Seawolves’ favor, the Tigers ended the set on a 6-1 run with Barrett delivering three of the final six blows. A bad set by Henry closed things out as Towson grabbed Sunday’s opener in 25-19 fashion.
Stony Brook held a lead for most of the second set, leading 18-14. A kill by Pierre Louis brought the score to 20-17, as the Seawolves eclipsed 20 points for the first time over the weekend. From there, Towson delivered a 7-0 outburst, flipping the scoreboard and putting themselves ahead by four. Stony Brook tried to right the ship, picking up three scores on a service error by Moran, an ace by defensive specialist Madison Cigna and an attack error by Barrett to close the gap to one. Only ahead 24-23, Barrett came up with a kill to shut down the set and put the Tigers up by two sets.
Trying to fend off another sweep, the Seawolves had their best offensive showing in the third set. Trailing 10-7, Stony Brook posted a 6-1 run that was sparked by a kill from Anderson. After Towson put together a brief comeback, Moore killed the ensuing point to jump-start a 4-0 run. Once again, it proved to not be enough, as Anderson committed two errors on a 5-2 Tigers’ run that cut the deficit to one. Two errors by Abdul-Rahim padded the Seawolves’ lead to 23-20, but Towson immediately stormed back with three of its own. Unphased, Stony Brook grabbed the lead right back, as a kill by Moore set up set points and an attack error by Barrett awarded the Seawolves with a 25-23 victory for their first of the weekend.
“We tried to create situations where Towson had to make a play,” Belzung said. “I thought we did a good job of putting pressure on them, forcing them to play defense and not giving them easy points.”
The fourth and final set followed a similar trajectory as its predecessors, with a kill from middle blocker Abby Campbell tying the set at 6-6. However, the Tigers silenced any idea of a comeback, delivering a 15-3 blow to take a 21-9 lead. A few points later and the game all but over, Towson ended the festivities with a 3-0 run after a kill by Nakai, a service ace by libero Alexa Mork and an attack error by Henry to win it 25-12.
“We flipped the lineup a little bit today and I think in that rotation we were just not quite comfortable with our power,” Belzung said. “They played good defense and we were a little out of system.”
Stony Brook’s offense had a messy weekend, posting just a .141 hitting percentage — including a .070 clip on Saturday. The Seawolves offense totaled 40 attack errors with Moore committing 14 and Kunz following with seven. Conversely, the Tigers posted a .232 clip in the series.
Offensively, Kunz led the attack with just 19 kills, including 15 on Sunday. Moore and Anderson followed with 18 and 15 kills, respectively. Campbell chipped in 13 while Pierre Louis had 10. As for Towson, Barrett was the standout player, totaling 36 kills including a 27-kill effort on Sunday.
Henry had 68 assists and 20 digs, facilitating both the offense and defense. Libero Julia Patsos led the team with 26 digs and Kunz followed close behind with 21. Cigna (18) and Moore (17) rounded out the digs leaderboard.
At the net, Campbell led with seven blocks while Moore followed with five. Pierre Louis and Kunz brought up the rear with four apiece.
The Seawolves now have their work cut out for them going into the final weekend of the regular season. Stony Brook will not only need a strong showing against the Campbell Fighting Camels, but also help from Charleston in its series against the Northeastern Huskies if it wants a shot at the CAA Women’s Volleyball Championship. Luckily for the Seawolves, the Camels are 6-20 this season and have gone just 4-12 in conference play. They are coming off of a sweep at the hands of Northeastern. The weekend’s first sets are scheduled for 5 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday in Buies Creek, N.C.
