The Stony Brook Women’s Volleyball Team dropped three consecutive sets on Friday night, as they lost to Hartford 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-20). The team has now dropped two straight conference matches for the first time all season.

The defeat drops the Seawolves record to 15-16, and 8-5 in conference play. They will now either be the third or fourth seed during next weekend’s America East tournament.

Senior Kaitlin Costello was a bright spot for the team despite the losing effort. She delivered a team high nine kills and 13 digs.

Also strong in the match for Stony Brook was sophomore Melissa Rigo, who tallied nine digs in the match. Her fellow sophomore teammate Stephanie McFadden had a match-high four blocks on the night.

During the first set, the Seawolves found themselves down by one point, before McFadden delivered one of the team’s eight aces on the night to tie things up at 21. But, Hartford would then go on a 4-1 run to finish the set, lead by a key kill by Shelby Tietjen.

In the second set Stony Brook found themselves up 17-13. But another key point by Tietjen would help spark a 9-2 run for Hartford, which would eventually lead them to victory in the set.  

The third set would not be much of a contest, as Hartford would pull away halfway through to clinch victory in the match.

This was the Seawolves’ first loss to Hartford since 2010. However they still hold a 23-6 lead in the all-time series between the two teams.

Stony Brook will play its last regular season conference game of the season this Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., when they take on Providence.

The Seawolves are currently tied with Albany for the third spot in the conference, although Albany holds the tiebreaker after sweeping the season series. The Great Danes host UMass Lowell on Sunday and a win would clinch them the third seed in next weekend’s tournament.