Final Stats

Stony Brook, N.Y. – The Stony Brook volleyball team turned in a dominating performance, racing past Hartford in straight sets (25-14, 25-8, 25-20), Friday night at Pritchard Gymnasium. Junior Melissa Rigo recorded match highs of 10 kills and 13 digs for her ninth double-double of the year. She hit an impressive .500.

Redshirt senior Evann Slaughter tied Rigo for the match best in kills with 10 and added four stuffs for Stony Brook (13-11, 4-3 America East). Junior Stephanie McFadden scored eight kills and hit an absolutely scorching .727.

Classmate Nicole Vogel led the contest with 35 helpers.

Hartford dropped to 13-11 overall and 2-4 in America East play.  

Head Coach Coley Pawlikowski’s Reaction

“After this week’s practice and the last three matches, I think we did a good job of coming out and being prepared and understanding what “best-effort” is. That’s something we’ve been talking a lot about in our gym, and I think all 16 of us gave our best efforts in sets one and two. It was good to see us push back in set three when Hartford challenged us, and I think overall we did a much better job than we have been doing. I’m excited about that performance heading into the second half of conference play.”

Recap

• With Stony Brook already out to a 10-6 lead in the first frame, Hartford committed a service error and Kathy Fletcher scored a kill. After a Hawks attack error, Taylor Gillie hammered one home and Rigo notched back-to-back smacks to extend the lead to nine, 15-6. A combo-stuff by Gillie and Slaughter on the next rally sent the crowd into a frenzy and forced the guests to ask for time. Out of the huddle, Slaughter slammed one over the net to punctuate an 8-0 Seawolves run that gave them a commanding 17-6 advantage. She later locked up a 25-14 first-set win with a kill.
• The second stanza was close—but not for long. The Seawolves went ahead, 8-5, on a Gillie kill. Three straight Hartford errors pushed the advantage to six, 11-5, and Slaughter kept the momentum in Stony Brook’s favor with a smack. The Hawks committed an attack error, and Rigo notched an ace and a kill as the margin ballooned to double-digits, 15-5. SBU still wasn’t done. A Hartford error, two consecutive McFadden kills and a smack by Fletcher finished off a dominant stretch that saw the Seawolves score 11 unanswered points and take a 19-5 lead.
• The third set was a more of a seesaw affair. Stony Brook trailed, 10-8, before going on an 8-0 run capped by a Gillie-Slaughter block. The Hawks broke up the spurt with a kill, but Slaughter came right back with a smack and Hartford committed an attack error as SBU went up by seven, 18-11. The Hawks tallied nine of the next 14 points to close to within three, 23-20, on a kill, but gave up the momentum with a service error. The Seawolves took advantage, clinching the set and match on Slaughter’s 10th kill of the night. 

By the Numbers

• The Seawolves hit .354 as a team and held Hartford to .010 hitting.
• Slaughter posted a .421 hitting percentage.
• Gillie led the match with five stuffs.
•  Stony Brook out-blocked Hartford, 5-2.
•  Vogel, redshirt junior Lo Hathaway and freshman Cydney Bowman scooped up seven digs each.
• SBU led Hartford in digs, 43-26.

News and Notes

• Gillie now holds sole possession of fourth place on Stony Brook’s all-time career block assist ledger. She has recorded 241 combo-stuffs during her tenure, which puts her ahead of Amy Oleksiej (236, 2004-07).
• Gillie moved into fifth in single-season school history with her 93rd block assist of the year.
• Slaughter has 947 kills in her career.
• Rigo’s nine double-doubles are the most by a Seawolf this season.
• SBU holds a 25-6 lead in the all-time series.
• Stony Brook is 8-2 at Pritchard Gymnasium this season.

Up Next

The Seawolves play at Delaware State in non-conference action Thursday at 6 p.m.