Nov. 19, 2010

Final Stats

Albany, N.Y. - Junior Alicia Nelson (Apple Valley, Minn.) tallied a career-best 26 kills and the No. 4 Stony Brook University volleyball team rallied from a two-set deficit before falling to top-seed Albany, 3-2 (25-19, 25-14, 15-25, 18-25, 15-10) in the America East semifinals on Friday night.

Nelson hit .323 for the match and also recorded 16 digs to record her sixth double-double of the season. Senior Jeanette Gibbs (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) led Stony Brook with 27 digs while senior Ashley Headen (Alexandria, Va.) added 10 kills.

Trailing two sets to none, Stony Brook jumped to an early lead in the third set, scoring eight of the first nine points to force an Albany timeout. The Great Danes rallied though, getting within 10-8 on an ace from Lindsey McCloskey. But the Seawolves had an answer, scoring three straight points to push their lead back to five.

Albany got back within two at 15-13 but Stony Brook then went on a 10-2 run to close out the set and cut the Albany lead to 2-1. The Seawolves hit .379 in the third set.

The Seawolves carried the momentum to set four, jumping to a 9-5 lead. A Nelson kill made it 12-7 before Albany ran off four points in a row to close within one. Stony Brook responded with four straight points to push its lead back to five and force an Albany timeout.

Stony Brook's lead grew to 23-16 before the Great Danes scored consecutive points to get within five. But Nelson answered with a kill before a kill from freshman Evann Slaughter (Clinton, Md.) forced a fifth and deciding set.

Albany scored the first points of the fifth but the Seawolves responded with three straight points to take the lead. The Great Danes regained the lead on an ace from McCloskey but Nelson answered with a kill to tie it.

Then, with the score tied at six, Albany scored three scored straight points before a kill from freshman Kaitlin Costello (Webster, N.Y.) made it 9-7. But Albany then ended a long rally with a kill from Teresa Coppiellie to make it 10-7.

The Great Danes pushed their lead to 12-6 on a Coppiellie ace but Stony Brook ended the run on a block from Headen and Costello. Stony Brook cut the Albany lead to 13-10 on an Abby Wexel ball-handling error but Traci Vandergrift answered with a kill and the Great Danes then closed the set and the match on a kill from Dunja Prgomet.

The Seawolves jumped on the Great Danes to open the match, grabbing leads of 5-0 and 8-2. Albany closed to within 11-8 before Headen answered with a kill. The Great Danes tied at 12 on a Wexel kill but Headen answered with another kill.

Albany took its first lead of the match at 15-14 on a service ace from Coppiellie. The Great Danes pushed their lead to 17-14 but Nelson ended the run with a kill. Stony Brook rallied to tie it at 18 on an Albany error but the Great Danes ended the set on a 7-1 run to take a 1-0 lead.

SBU trailed by just one, 11-10, early in set two before Albany scored five of the next six points to take a 16-11 advantage. Nelson followed with back-to-back kills but that is as close as Stony Brook got as the Great Danes ran off eight straight points to get within a point of winning the set.

Another Nelson kill ended the Albany run but the Great Danes closed out the set a point later on a Seawolves attack error. Nelson had eight kills in the second set for Stony Brook, which held Albany to a .157 hitting percentage through the first two sets.