Sept. 10, 2005

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Stony Brook battled to a thrilling 3-1 (30-27, 30-21, 27-30, 30-27) victory over Bucknell in the sixth and final match of the Holiday Inn Express Invitational at the Indoor Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon. The Seawolves, who went 3-0 to capture the Holiday Inn Express Invitational title, have now won three straight to improve to 3-4 on the season, while the Bison fell to 4-3.

The Seawolves came out hitting in Game 1, posting 15 kills and just one error to hit .519. Sarah Votruba killed each of her five attempts while Morgan Sweany chipped in with three kills to pace the Stony Brook attack.

With Game 2 knotted at 10, the Seawovles began to pull away behind an 8-1 run to lead 18-11. The Bison would get no closer than seven the rest of the way as SB took the 30-21 victory. Sweany totalled six kills while Amy Oleksiej added five for the Seawovles.

In Game 3 Stony Brook trailed by as many as nine at 24-15, but rallied back with a 12-3 run to tie it at 27. Bucknell held off the attack, taking advantage of an SB error and getting kills from Jenna Henderson and Shannon Pitsch to earn a 30-27 win. Kristen Sydlowski led the Bison with nine kills while hitting .750.

The Seawolves fell behind once again in the fourth, trailing by as many as seven at 19-12 midway through the game. They slowly crept back, however, tying it up at 25 as Melissa Votruba tallied three kills in the spurt. A Bucknell error, an ace by Gulce Nazli Dikecligil and a kill by Morgan Sweany put the Seawovles up 28-25. After an SB error, Sarah Votruba's kill gave SB a match point, and two plays later Sweany put it away with her sixth kill of the game to give Stony Brook the 30-27 win.

Sweany finished with a team-high 20 kills to go with 11 digs, while Oleksiej added 10 kills and a match-high 17 digs. Melissa Votruba and Sarah Votruba chipped in with 12 and 11 kills, respectively, while Kate Ruskowski dished out 48 assists.

For their efforts, Oleksiej and Sarah Votruba were named to the 2005 Holiday Inn Express Invitational All-Tournament Team. Morgan Sweany, who totaled 59 kills and 35 digs over the weekend was named Tournament MVP.

Jenna Henderson led the Bison attack, posting a match-high 21 kills, hitting at a .475 clip and adding a team-high 14 digs. Jenna Henderson hit .400 for the match and contributed 10 kills in the loss.

In the fifth match of the tournament, Siena swept St. Francis (Pa.) 3-0 by scores of 30-25, 30-24, 30-24. The Saints were led by Christie Gustafson's 15 kills and 15 digs, while April London added 37 assists. Anne Roosevelt paced the Red Flash with 15 kills while hitting .464.

The Seawolves return to action next weekend at the Marist Invitational. Play begins on Friday vs. Lafayette at 3:00 p.m.

2005 Holiday Inn Express Invitational All-Tournament Team
MVP - Morgan Sweany - Stony Brook University
Amy Oleksiej - Stony Brook University
Sarah Votruba - Stony Brook University
Nadiege Honore - Siena
Liz Hubbard - Siena
Chelsea Anderson - Bucknell
Anne Roosevelt - St. Francis (Pa.)