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Stony Brook, N.Y. – The Stony Brook volleyball team will try to get back to its winning ways when it hosts New Hampshire Saturday at 4 p.m. and UMass Lowell Sunday at 1 p.m. The Seawolves will honor seniors Hannah Dolan, Taylor Gillie and Evann Slaughter with a pre-match Senior Day ceremony Sunday.

History in the Making

Records can fall and milestones can be reached this weekend at Pritchard. Redshirt junior Lo Hathaway needs just 13 digs to tie the Division I program record for digs (1,360) set by Claire Linder (2003-06). Junior Melissa Rigo has 986 career kills and can become the ninth player in school history to tally 1,000 career kills.

Senior Spotlight

Redshirt senior Evann Slaughter has helped Stony Brook to three America East Championship berths, and seniors Taylor Gillie and Hannah Dolan have played in the conference championship twice. More importantly, the trio has played crucial roles in elevating the program’s culture, including helping the Seawolves earn their first-ever AVCA Team Academic Award in 2013-14.

Last Time Out

Evann Slaughter recorded a season-high 15 kills to go along with eight digs and five blocks, but Stony Brook (11-9, 2-2 America East) fell to Binghamton in four sets Saturday. Redshirt junior Lo Hathaway, junior Melissa Rigo and freshman Dani Nizich tallied 10 digs each.

Scouting New Hampshire

The reigning America East champion New Hampshire (10-11, 3-1) is coming off a sweep of UMBC Sunday. The Wildcats lead the league in hitting percentage .201. Junior Teri Forest paces UNH with 3.08 kills per set. Junior Madison Lightfoot is averaging a team-best 4.81 digs per set.

Scouting UMass Lowell 

UMass Lowell (2-20, 0-4) is in its second season at the Division I level. The River Hawks fell to UMBC, 3-1, Friday, Oct. 10 and will play Hartford Friday in West Hartford. Senior Hannah Rey tops the conference in digs per set (5.10).

Series History vs. Opponents 

The home team won both 2013 regular-season meetings between Stony Brook and New Hampshire, with the Seawolves claiming a five-set thriller Oct. 4. The top-seeded Wildcats swept fourth-seeded SBU in the America East Semifinals. Stony Brook is 17-14 all-time vs. New Hampshire. The Seawolves beat UMass Lowell in straight sets twice last year and hold an 8-1 all-time record vs. the River Hawks.

Go Rigo

With 986 career kills, Melissa Rigo is close to becoming the ninth Stony Brook volleyball player to tally 1,000 career kills. The 2013 America East All-Academic selection and 2012 Rookie of the Year leads the team in double-doubles (7) and is second in digs (2.76/set) and kills (2.89/set). She paced Stony Brook with 3.00 kills per set and was second in digs per set at 3.50 en route to All-Tournament honors at the Razorback Invitational.

Get Lo

Lo Hathaway broke the single-season school digs record last season with 553 digs and finished fifth in single-season program history in digs per set at 4.29. She is sixth in program history with 1,347 career digs and needs four digs to tie Sarah Boeckel (1995-99) for fifth on the ledger. Claire Linder is fourth all-time and first in Division I program history with 1,360.

Perfect 10

Evann Slaughter has performed well in her return to the court after missing the 2013 season with a torn ACL. Slaughter, who has led Stony Brook in blocks in all three of her seasons, currently sits second in school history with 257 career block assists and fourth with 334 total stuffs. Slaughter averaged 0.90 blocks per set at the Columbia Invitational Sept. 5-6 and was named All-Tournament.

Seawolves Block Party

Senior Taylor Gillie tops the league and ranks 54th nationally with 1.25 blocks per set. She is 27th in Division I with 90 total blocks. SBU ranks second in the conference at 2.18 stuffs per stanza.

Envelope, Please…

Stony Brook has claimed five America East weekly honors. Senior Taylor Gillie and redshirt junior Kathy Fletcher were named America East Player of the Week Sept. 22 and Sept. 29, respectively, and junior Nicole Vogel picked up three straight America East Setter of the Week honors (Sept. 22, Sept. 29 and Oct. 6).

Stony Brook Volleyball 2014 America East Weekly Awards

Nicole Vogel, Setter of the Week (Oct. 6)

Kathy Fletcher, Player of the Week (Sept. 29)

Nicole Vogel, Setter of the Week (Sept. 29)

Taylor Gillie, Player of the Week (Sept. 22)

Nicole Vogel, Setter of the Week (Sept. 22)

Happy Homecoming

West Chicago Ill., native Kathy Fletcher was named to the DePaul Invite All-Tournament Team for her efforts during Stony Brook’s opening weekend. Playing in front of a hometown crowd, Fletcher tied for a team best with 2.75 kills per set and was second in digs at 1.92 digs per set. She led Stony Brook in kills in both contests Saturday, Aug. 30 with 11 vs. Hampton and a match-high 18 vs. Bradley.

Fresh Faces

Stony Brook welcomes six promising freshmen to the fold as the program continues to grow under Coley Pawlikowski. Click on the bio links below for more on the newest Seawolves.

Melann Amory (Fr., OH/DS, 5-10)...................Center Valley, Pa./Southern Lehigh

Cydney Bowman (Fr., MB/OH, 5-11)………..Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary

Emily Costello (Fr./OH/6-2)……………………Webster, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy

Abby Hickey (Fr., DS/OH, 5-6)…………………Dekalb, Ill./Dekalb

Dani Nizich (Fr., DS/S, 5-4)……………………..Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East

Courtney Scanlan (Fr., MB/OH, 6-1)………...Salamanca, N.Y./Ellicotville

Fearless Leader

A rising star in the collegiate volleyball coaching ranks and a tenacious recruiter of student-athletes, Pawlikowski is a three-time recipient of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Thirty Under 30 award. She was hired on January 16, 2013.

In her first year at the helm, Pawlikowski guided to Seawolves back to the America East Championship and mentored a pair of all-conference picks in Kaitlin Costello (first team) and Stephanie McFadden (second team). Stony Brook consistently ranked near the top of the country in aces per set, finishing the year 10th at 1.69. The Seawolves are also excelling off the court under her watch and were honored with their first AVCA Team Academic Award.

A tenacious recruiter, Pawlikowski added six promising Seawolves to the roster in her first full recruiting class as she looks to build a championship program. She served as the defensive position coach at Wisconsin, helping the Badgers lead the Big Ten in digs per set as a team and boast the individual digs champion. 

Pawlikowski previously worked as the top assistant coach for her alma mater, Northern Illinois, from 2009-12, where she helped guide the Huskies to a 2011 Mid-American Conference regular season title and an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Up Next

Stony Brook welcomes Seton Hall Tuesday at 7 p.m.