The Stony Brook women’s volleyball team, which was hoping to get the season back on track with successes and victories, unfortunately suffered a pair of setbacks this weekend at the Kennesaw State Owl Classic
Stony Brook, which played against Samford, Kennesaw State, Tennessee Tech and Coastal Carolina in a four-match weekend invitational, did not manage to get out of its downward spiral.
Even if sophomore captain Lo Hathaway, senior Kaitlin Costello and sophomore Melissa Rigo played a huge role over the weekend and managed to reach double figures in kills against Tennessee Tech and Coastal Carolina, the Stony Brook volleyball team did not win a single match.
According to coach Pawlikowski, the reason why the girls did not win a match this weekend is mainly due to the fact that they have not moved on yet from the losses of last weekend.
“We unfortunately have not yet moved past Tuesday,” said coach Pawlikowski. “We have some individuals doing some positive things but struggled to get seven people going at the same time today. Lo kept us alive at critical times tonight and is demanding her teammates give effort. Rigo had one of her better matches today, and we hope that she can build on this.”
In the two last matches of the weekend, with Stony Brook playing against Tennessee Tech and Coastal Carolina, Costello and Rigo both notched their second consecutive double-doubles of the tournament when Rigo tallied 11 kills and 10 digs and Costello posted 10 kills and 13 digs in the five-set loss to Tennessee Tech (3-8). In the second match with Coastal Carolina (5-6), Costello tied for a match-high 12 kills, while Rigo chimed in with 10.
Hathaway and junior Hanna Dolan led the team against Tennessee Tech and Coastal Carolina. Dolan totaled 66 assists against Coastal Carolina while Lo recorded 13 and 12 digs in the matches against Tennessee Tech and Coastal Carolina, respectively.
“We played our best match of the weekend against Coastal Carolina,” said coach Pawlikowski. “We just couldn’t finish off a set. Coastal hit some shots that we haven’t seen yet and did a good job pushing us. We have to refocus and be sure we continue to stay the course and learn through the growing pains.”.
Stony Brook will play in its final tournament away next weekend at the Bryant Invitational. The Seawolves will meet St. John’s on Friday, Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. before playing against Bryant and Princeton on Saturday.
