Sept. 7, 2002

Final Stats

Stony Brook, N.Y. - The Stony Brook Seawolves swept through the 2002 Holiday Inn Express Tournament, taking first place in the four-team tournament thanks to two impressive wins on Saturday. The Seawolves defeated the Bucknell Bison 3-1 (30-28, 18-30, 19-30, 28-30) and beat the St. Francis Terriers in three (30-21, 30-27, 30-21) Saturday afternoon. The Seawolves were followed by second place Bucknell. St. Francis came in third and Providence rounded out the field.

Stony Brook extended its winning streak to five matches in a row with its 3-1 defeat of the Bison (4-3). The Seawolves were victorious thanks to a three-pronged attack from sophomore Danielle MacKnight (Valley Stream, N.Y.), junior Rachael Goldsmith (Aurora, Ill.) and senior LaToya Byerly (Beaumont, Texas). The three combined for 47 of Stony Brook's 63 kills in the match. Byerly and Goldsmith each had a double-double in the win. Byerly was tops overall in kills with 19, followed by Goldsmith with a close 18 and MacKnight posted 10. Sophomore Julie Zub finished with 53 assists in the match.

The Bucknell attack also featured three players. Brandi Trapasso and Melanie Ghiz finished with 13 kills followed by 10 from Jennifer Wrigley. Wrigley also hit double digits in the digs category. Breean Trapasso assisted on 38 kills. The Bison was done in by a poor hitting performance overall, hitting just .088.

The Seawolves closed the tournament in shutout fashion in the night cap. Sophomore Valerie Maloy (Gibsonia, Pa.) blasted 12 kills in the win and Goldsmith added 11 more. The Pack did commit 15 serving errors in the match, but that was not enough to slow them. Sophomore Abby Egan (Lansing, Mich.) had 13 digs.

The day kicked off with the St. Francis Terriers (2-7) bouncing back from a 0-3 loss to Bucknell on day one. The Terriers were the beneficiaries of the shutout on day two as they defeated the Friars 3-0 (31-29, 30-26, 30-25). St. Francis' Sylwia Parzych was a major factor in the shutout win, producing 15 kills on 28 attacks and Sylwia Turek had 29 assist. The Friars (0-6) played tough throughout, with Katie Fleming and Ayana Cadres each scoring a double-double. The two combined to provide Providence with 26 of its 39 kills. Fleming dug 12 balls in the match, while Cadres was in on 14 digs.

Providence's woes continued in its final match of the contest, falling to Bucknell in four games (28-30, 30-19, 30-25, 30-28). Again the Friars hit poorly, posting a .079 attack percentage from the field. Cadres led the team in assist with 14. The high point for Providence came on the defensive end where five different players hit double-digit digs.

Byerly was crowned tournament MVP for her outstanding play throughout the weekend. Joining Byerly on the all-tournament team was fellow Seawolf Zub, Melanie Ghiz, Breean Trapasso, Slywia Parzych and Ayanna Cadres.

The Seawolves are back in action Tuesday when they host Sacred Heart. The match is scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. start.