Sept. 23, 2011

Box Score

Baltimore, Md. - Senior Alicia Nelson (Apple Valley, Minn.) and sophomore Evann Slaughter(Clinton, Md.) combined for 32 kills including nine in the fifth set as the Stony Brook volleyball team rallied for a 3-2 (25-23, 15-25, 13-25, 25-11, 16-14) win over the UMBC Retrievers on Friday at the RAC Arena in the America East opener for both teams. It was fourth straight win for the Seawolves, all of which have come in five sets.

Nelson had a game-high 17 kills to go along with 10 digs while Slaughter hit .387 and tallied 15 kills. Freshman Laura Hathaway(Warsaw, NY.) registered a game-high 22 digs for the Stony Brook.

Stony Brook (7-7, 1-0 AE) fell behind two sets to one but then hit .333 in a dominant fourth set that evened the match at two. The Seawolves led 8-7 early but then ended the set on a 17-4 run to send the match to a fifth set.

The Retrievers (10-6, 0-1 AE) jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the fifth set before the Seawolves scored 11 of the next 15 points to take a 13-10. UMBC tied the set at 14 but Nelson answered with back-to-back kills to give Stony Brook the victory.

Slaughter had five kills in the fifth set while Nelson added four. Senior Kelsey Sullivan(Hamilton, Va.) finished the match with 42 assists.

SBU led most of the way in the opening set taking an 18-12 lead on a kill from Sullivan. UMBC rallied to within one at 24-23 before a Nelson kill gave Stony Brook a 1-0 lead.

UMBC did not trail over the next two sets though to take a 2-1 lead. The Retrievers hit .321 in the second set and then hit .500 in the third set.

The Seawolves return to action next weekend, hosting Albany at Pritchard Gymnasium. First serve is set for 7 p.m.