Oct. 2, 2011

Box Score

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Senior Alicia Nelson (Apple Valley, Minn.) tied a career-high with 26 kills as the Stony Brook University volleyball team outlasted the Binghamton Bearcats in five sets (25-19, 24-26, 25-19, 24-26, 15-11) on Sunday afternoon at Pritchard Gymnasium.

Nelson also added 12 digs while sophomore Evann Slaughter (Clinton, Md.) chipped in with 13 digs on a .357 hitting percentage. Freshman Laura Hathaway (Warsaw, N.Y.) paced Stony Brook with 21 digs and senior Jennifer Cunningham (Little Neck, N.Y.) had a career-high 18 digs.

Stony Brook (8-8, 2-1 AE) led two sets to one and took a 17-11 lead in the fourth set. But Binghamton (8-12, 0-3 AE) rallied to tie the match at 23 and then forced a fifth set a few points later following back-to-back kills from Jordan Snapp.

But the Seawolves never trailed in the fifth set, grabbing a 7-3 lead after a kill from freshman Taylor Gillie (Fort Wayne, Ind.). Binghamton got within 13-10 but senior Kelsey Sullivan (Hamilton, Va.) answered with a kill off a pass from senior Masa Balandzic (Pljevlja, Montenegro) before Nelson closed it out two sets later with her 26th kill of the match.

It was Stony Brook's fifth win in six matches, all of which have come in five sets. Sullivan had 10 digs to go along with 46 assists and led the Seawolves to a .316 attack percentage in the fifth set.

SBU controlled the action at the start, jumping to a 16-7 lead in the opening set. But the Bearcats slowly chipped away, getting within 21-18. But the Seawolves then got two kills from Slaughter before clinching the set on a service error from Iva Partaleva.

Stony Brook again staked itself to an early lead in the second set, going ahead 12-7 following a kill from Slaughter. But Binghamton tied the set at 19 and then, with the score tied at 24, got kills from Partaleva and Snapp to tie the match 1-1.

The third set was close most of the way, with the Seawolves taking a 13-9 lead on a kill from Nelson. Binghamton responded with seven straight points but SBU answered with five consecutive points of its own to go ahead 18-16.

A kill from Alex Roland brought the Bearcats within 19-18 but the Seawolves scored six of the final seven points to take a 2-1 lead. Roland hit .310 and led Binghamton with 17 kills.

Stony Brook returns to action on Friday, traveling to take on New Hampshire. First serve is set for 7 p.m.