Sept. 23, 2011

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Winners of three straight and five of its last seven, the Stony Brook University volleyball team kicks off America East play on Friday at UMBC. First serve is set for 6 p.m.

Last time out
Senior Alicia Nelson (Apple Valley, Minn.) tallied a season-high 25 kills and sophomore Evann Slaughter (Clinton, Md.) added a career-best 22 kills as the Seawolves edged the Fordham Rams 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 27-25, 27-19, 15-10) on Wednesday night at Pritchard Gymnasium. Nelson was honored prior to the match after recording her 1,000th career kill on Saturday at Bucknell.

Nelson added 13 digs for the Seawolves, who won their third straight five-set match. Slaughter hit .439 for the match and finished with 23.5 points. Senior Kelsey Sullivan (Hamilton, Va.) had 49 assists and eight digs while freshman Taylor Gillie (Fort Wayne, Ind.) chipped in with a season-high nine kills.

Seawolves News & Notes
Stony Brook (6-7) has won three straight meetings against the Retrievers including 3-0 and 3-2 victories last season. Alicia Nelson averaged 4.62 kills per set in the two meetings against UMBC last year.

Nelson leads the America East in kills per set (3.96) and points per set (4.45). Sophomore Hailee Herc (Eden, N.Y.) is first in the conference with .44 aces per set while Nelson is second at .38.

Scouting UMBC
The Retrievers (10-5) enter after going 2-1 at the Crowne Plaza Philadelphia West/Penn Invitational last weekend. One of the wins was a 3-1 triumph over Rhode Island, who defeated the Seawolves in five sets earlier this season.

UMBC leads the America East in opponent hitting percentage (.207) and is second in hitting percentage (.207). The Retrievers are also first in the conference with 2.40 blocks per set.

Katie Kelly is second in the America with a .316 hitting percentage and is first in blocks per set (1.14).