After more than a month on the road, the Stony Brook Seawolves women’s volleyball team returned to the Prichard Gymnasium to face the Providence Friars Friday night.
In three games, Stony Brook swept the Friars 25-17, 25-17 and 25-15. It was a dominating performance for the Seawolves as they maintained the lead for all but a few serves in Friday’s match.
Although the Friars had plenty of opportunities, in the end it came down to their inability to execute with a .086 hitting percentage in comparison to Stony Brook’s season best .366 hitting percentage.
Coach Deb Des Lauriers was more than thrilled by Friday’s statement victory against her alma mater, Providence. “I thought we played really well. Our goal was to get our offense going early and maintain the momentum throughout.”
Stony Brook did just that on the hands of a 13-0 run to begin the first game. She continued saying, “The freshmen have been awesome for us so far. We’ve finally created a balance between veteran experience and energy from our underclassmen.”
Freshman standout Melissa Rigo led the Seawolves’ attack with 17 kills on 39 total attempts (.410 hitting percentage) on the heels of a 25-kill performance in their last outing.
However, this recent statistical outburst is no fluke. After the match, Rigo explained, “When we had the two week break, I focused a lot more on changing my approach, the way I hit and hitting my spots.”
Rigo has recorded double-digit kills in all 22 matches this season and is now near the top in the country in kills as a freshman in Division I play and a definite candidate for conference player of the year.
Other standouts for Stony Brook were junior Evann Slaughter and freshman Nicole Vogel. Slaughter had 12 kills and finished with a .429 hitting percentage. Vogel had a team leading 39 assists and also added 3 kills.
Stony Brook improved to 11-12 on the season and 6-4 in America East play. Providence dips to 1-27 and 0-10 in America East play.
The Seawolves control their own destiny with three home matches left. On Sunday at 1 p.m., Stony Brook University faces the University of New Hampshire at the Pritchard Gymnasium.
