Sept. 18, 2009

Box Score

Providence, R.I. - Stony Brook University's volleyball team held off a late rally by Brown to pull out a 3-2 (25-21, 25-19, 23-25, 25-27, 15-12) victory on Friday night. Senior Harmonie Calinda (Huntington, N.Y.) recorded a double-double with 26 kills and 18 digs while junior Ashley Headen (Alexandria, Va.) led the offense with a .417 attack percentage. Defensively, the Seawolves had five different players with double-digit digs as the team recorded the second most digs in school history with 116. Stony Brook's fourth-straight win moves it to 6-8 on the year while Brown falls to 1-6.

After trailing 3-2 to start the match, the Seawolves scored seven of the next eight points to move in front 9-4. Behind five kills from Headen, SBU maintained the cushion throughout most of the set, until the Bears went on an 8-3 run to knot the score at 20-20. Stony Brook's offense, which hit .312 in the opening frame, was errorless down the stretch, though, which helped the Seawolves hold on for the 25-21 victory.

Brown opened the second set by rattling off six quick points before the Seawolves were on the scoreboard. Freshman Corinne Perry (Northport, N.Y.) helped guide the Seawolves back into the game by accounting for six of their first seven points, dishing out five assists and serving for an ace. SBU would tie the score six different times, but would not take its first lead until an attack error by the Bears gave them a 16-15 advantage. From there, the Seawolves closed the game out on a 9-4 run, with Calinda's seventh kill of the set being the final blow. Senior Lisa Doremus (Glendale, Ariz.) had 11 digs in the set to help hold the Bears to a .039 hitting percentage.

Despite receiving eight kills from Calinda in the third set, SBU failed to hold onto an early lead as the Bears rallied for a 25-23 victory. Stony Brook committed 11 attack errors on its way to match-low .059 hitting percentage.

Brown pushed the Seawolves to fifth game by pulling out a tightly contested fourth set, 27-25. Headen recorded a set-high six kills on .455 hitting, but the trio of Brianna Williamson (5k), Liz Mueller (4k) and Moira Gallagher (4) proved to be too much for the Seawolves.

Stony Brook opened the fifth set with a 7-3 lead, highlighted by three-straight kills by freshman Sally Downs (Coppell, Texas). Then it was Doremus' turn to lead the offense as she recorded three of the next four kills for Stony Brook which pushed its advantage to 11-6. The Bears pulled within one at 11-10 on kill from Gallagher, but the Seawolves scored four of the next six points including the game winner, an ace from junior Jeanette Gibbs (Port Jefferson, N.Y.), to hold onto the 15-12 victory.

Gibbs led the defensive effort for Stony Brook with 27 digs while Doremus recorded 20.

Stony Brook's next match is against Holy Cross tomorrow at noon.