Tuesday night, the Stony Brook Seawolves Women’s Volleyball team (14-14, 7-3 AE) dominated the Pioneers of Sacred Heart University in straight sets 3-0 (27-25, 25-19, 25-20). This win finished a four game home stand that the Seawolves won three of four on.
Sophomore Stephanie McFadden set a Stony Brook Division 1 single season record, attaining her 96th block assist Tuesday night, surpassing Tesha Harry who recorded 92 in 2003.
Stony Brook’s success was due in large part to their play at the net with blocking. In total, the Seawolves finished with 7.5 team blocks to Sacred Hearts’ one.
After the game, Stony Brook Head Coach, Coley Pawlikowski, was pleased with the way her team was able to block. “Before the game we talked a lot about our blocking schemes and I think once we were able to start to execute our plan it was really apparent.”
After a hard fought first set, the Seawolves got down early in the second 10-3 but were able to rally back to win 25-19, despite hitting for a putrid .250.
Pawlikowski attributed their comeback to the mentality they play with. “We treat each point as if it were 0-0. We really try to avoid looking at the scoreboard so as to manage our emotions.”
Sophomore standout Melissa Rigo had another big night, adding a team-high 14 kills while hitting .389. Kaitlin Costello broke double digits in kills and digs, recording 10 and 11 respectively. Kathy Fletcher was the most efficient Seawolf Tuesday night, going 7-17 on hits good for .412 with eight digs and three block assists.
Tuesday night completed the season sweep of the Pioneers 2-0. The Seawolves are 10-0 all time against the Northeast Conference opponent.
Next, the Seawolves will enter a four game road streak in which they will face four America East opponents that will make a large impact on seeding, going into the postseason.
“It’s going to be a crucial stretch for us. We’re tied for second right now and if we can win out we’ll have a chance at hosting the America East tournament which would be a big deal for us,” Pawlikowski said.
Currently, the Seawolves are tied for second place with UMBC and trail University of New Hampshire by one game. The four game stretch will include UMass –Lowell, New Hampshire, Hartford and Providence.
