Stony Brook women’s volleyball is back with a vengeance this year after a disappointing 2009 season in which they finished .500 and barely missed the playoffs, ending up in a four-way tie for the final playoff spot and losing out in the tiebreaker by three points.

The team is led by Coach Deborah Matejka-DesLauriers, who is in her ninth season with the team. She has taken the Seawolves to the America East Championship tournament five times since 2000, and this season hopes to take the team back to the playoffs.

“Our team goal this year is to be back in the final four of the America East Championships,” coach Matejka-DesLauriers said. “We want to be better all around, both offensively and defensively. Serving is going to be a key component to our offensive game this season.”

To help, Matejka-DesLauriers brought in four new players.

First she added junior Masa Balandzic, a 5-foot-6-inch setter and defensive specialist who played at Northeastern Junior College.

Then Matejka-DesLauriers recruited three freshmen to the roster: Hailee Herc, Kaitlin Costello, and Evann Slaughter. Herc is a swing hitter coming from Eden, New York. Slaughter is a middle blocker from Clinton, Maryland. Costello, another swing hitter out of Our Lady of Mercy High School (Webster, New York), was an All-Greater Rochester first team selection.

Stony Brook will start the season on Friday, August 27 at the Golden Gopher Invite in Minneapolis, Minnesota. First the Seawolves will take on Marquette, followed by Minnesota, and Denver on Saturday, August 28.

This invitational consists of several quality opponents, but the one Matejka-DesLauriers said she finds the toughest is Minnesota. Minnesota, ranked sixth in the nation, is a competitive team and will be one of the elite teams Stony Brook will face this season. Also, the Seawolves have two players, junior Alicia Nelson and sophomore Greta Strenger, who are from Minnesota and wanted to visit their hometown and compete in front of their family and friends.

Following the Golden Gopher Invite, the Seawolves will take part in the Yale Invitational in New Haven, Connecticut, the Fordham Invitational in the Bronx, New York, and the Marriot Cavalier Classic in Charlottesville, Virginia, before starting their regular season on September 19 at American. The Seawolves will play their first home game against Brown on September 25.

This should be a good season for the Seawolves, who look to improve on the .500 record last year. Coach Matejka-DesLauriers already likes the chemistry and work ethic of the Seawolves this year. “I have high expectations for this group and look forward to our first competition weekend in Minnesota,” she said. “Our newcomers are very solid all around players with an added energetic spark.”

Now all the Seawolves have to do is play hard and win some games to reach the playoffs once again.