Despite losing in the first round of the America East tournament, Stony Brook women’s volleyball had one of its most successful seasons on record.
The Seawolves finished with 17 wins, a seven-year high, and saw many players
reach significant milestones along the way.
The season opened up with the Depaul Invite, where the team won two of its first three games.
After a loss to Hofstra in its fourth game, Stony Brook headed to the Big Apple for the Columbia Invitational.
The Seawolves went 1-2 at Columbia, but were able to win a home game against Fordham immediately following the invitational to stay at .500 for the season.
The Razorback Invitational would prove to be a difficult test for the Seawolves.
In Fayetteville, Ark., Stony Brook lost consecutive matches against SMU, Arkansas and South Dakota respectively, leaving them with a mere 4-7 record on Sept. 13.
Especially in a mid-major conference like the America East, the nonconference slate is never as important as conference play itself, making early season struggles more of a building block to the end of the year.
Following this disastrous road showing down south, the team responded with seven consecutive wins, peaking when it mattered the most.
This run included a sweep of the Stony Brook
hosted Seawolves Invite.
The Seawolves were dominant in front of a loud Pritchard Gymnasium crowd, where they swept Kennesaw State and St. Francis (NY), and squeaking out a down-to-the wire deciding fifth set against a solid Western Michigan team.
Stony Brook opened up America East play strongly, with a couple of key wins early on in the schedule against Hartford and UMBC.
The Seawolves would not lose another game until Oct. 10, and followed up the winning streak by winning six of their next 10 games.
During this stretch, Stony Brook was 7-2 against America East opponents.
At this time, the Seawolves appeared to be on their way to a strong finish to the season heading into the America East tournament.
Stony Brook could not finish up strong, however, as they lost their final two regular season games against New Hampshire and UMass-Lowell to put them at 17-13 on the season.
Losing consecutive games to end the regular season proved devastating for the Seawolves’ America East hopes.
With all of their momentum gone, Stony Brook lost 3-1 to New Hampshire in the first round of the tournament, which was held in Durham, N.H.
After the tournament loss, the Seawolves suited up for one more game against Yale in New Haven.
This Nov. 25th contest went to the Bulldogs, as they won 3-0 to officially end Stony Brook’s season.
On an individual note, senior Evann Slaughter wrapped up her collegiate career by leaving her mark on the program’s record books.
She finished second all-time in blocks, block assists, third in total blocks and 10th in kills.
Slaughter will graduate as one of the best players in Stony Brook women’s volleyball history as she looks to start a professional career overseas.
Likewise, team captain Taylor Gillie finished her Seawolves career third all-time in block assists and eighth in blocks.
Her 112 block assists this season were the second highest single season
total in program history.
Senior Hannah Dolan ended her collegiate career with 1,330 assists, good for 10th all-time.
