This Friday night, the Stony Brook women’s volleyball team played host to the Hartford Hawks, in what ended up being a dominant win for the Seawolves as they thoroughly outclassed their opponent.
The team demonstrated great tenacity and focus in the victory, proving to be too much a match for Hartford in a 3-0 (25-14,25-8,25-20) win.
The win gave the Seawolves a 4-3 conference record in a 13-11 overall season.
The first set was a fine win for the Seawolves, as they demonstrated tremendous quality in an easy victory in the first frame.
The team managed to break out a solid lead and never lost it.
Stony Brook was up 9-6 early and then went on a 7-0 run to pull away.
The Seawolves closed out the set with easily, taking the early advantage in the match with a 25-14 win.
The second set was another easy win for the Seawolves, as they managed to gain a big lead and not give it up.
The match started 4-4, but the Seawolves quickly went on a 15-1 run, steamrolling
to a 19-5 lead.
They were able to close it out soon after, wrapping up the set 25-8 with the last point being credited to Lo Hathaway after an assist from Taylor Gillie.
The third set was a much closer affair, as they were unable to coast to a victory as they had in the previous sets.
Hartford appeared to be within striking distance, but never took the lead late in the game.
However, they still managed to pull out a solid win, finishing off the match with a 25-20 win.
It was Evann Slaughter who ended the final set with a kill, which was set up by
Nicole Vogel.
The win was a great overall performance for the entire Seawolves team.
Melissa Rigo put up a double double, racking up 10 kills and a team-leading 13 digs, along with an ace on 50 percent hitting.
Slaughter put up 10 kills of her own with three digs.
Vogel put up 35 assists, while Emily Costello contributed a pair of aces, both of which led their team.
Stephanie McFadden was also very efficient in the match, recording eight kills on 11 total attacks, putting up the highest hitting percentage on the team at 72.7 percent.
Gillie finished the day with six kills, along with a team-leading five blocks and three assists.
“I think our team did a great job today overall,” Slaughter said after the match. “We had each others backs, we were going for balls we normally wouldn’t and I think all of just played hard, all 16 of us and that’s why we won today.”
Playing in front of the Stony Brook faithful at Pritchard Gymnasium has proven to be a big boost for the Seawolves this year. On Friday the team was able to improve their spectacular home record to 8-2.
“It’s great,” Slaughter said of the environment in Pritchard. “The band has so much energy, its loud with horns and everything and then you have our fans, and we always have other athletes coming to cheer us on, and its something I’m going to miss when I leave and graduate.”
The Seawolves’ next match will take place this Thursday when they face off against Delaware State in Dover, Del.
The match will be the Seawolves’ last non-conference match of the year, as Stony Brook prepares itself for its final run of conference teams before the America East championship.
The Seawolves final five games will take place against UMBC, Binghamton, Albany, New Hampshire and UMass-Lowell.
Their matchups against Albany and Binghamton will be at home.
Stony Brook is chasing the Wildcats of UNH for the top spot in the conference. They currently sit at 6-1, with Binghamton one game behind them at 5-2.
