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Dover, Del. – Following a dominating performance in a straight-set win over Hartford Friday night, the Stony Brook volleyball team will embark on a two-match road swing, beginning with Delaware State Thursday at 6 p.m. The Seawolves will resume conference play at UMBC Friday at 7 p.m.

Last Time Out

Junior Melissa Rigo recorded match highs of 10 kills and 13 digs for her team-leading ninth double-double of the season as Stony Brook (13-11, 4-3 America East) cruised by Hartford, 3-0, Friday at Pritchard Gymnasium. Rigo’s 10 kills came on an impressive .500 hitting. Redshirt senior Evann Slaughter tied Rigo for the match best in kills with 10 and added four stuffs. Junior Stephanie McFadden scored eight kills and hit an absolutely scorching .727, and classmate Nicole Vogel led the contest with 35 helpers. Stony Brook won sets one and two, 25-14 and 25-8, respectively, and kept the Hawks at bay in a 25-20 triumph in the third stanza.

Scouting Delaware State 

Delaware State (1-20, 1-6 MEAC) has dropped its last five matches, most recently falling in three sets to Howard Friday night at home. Junior Jasmine Jackson leads the squad in kills per set (2.85). Sophomore Taylor Marshall and junior Natalia Mendieta have split setting duties. Marshall is averaging a team-high 4.21 assists per set, and Mendieta is second at 3.44 assists per set.

Scouting UMBC 

UMBC (10-11, 4-4) is currently fifth in the America East standings. The Retrievers played two three-set matches last weekend, falling to New Hampshire Friday before recovering to top UMass Lowell Sunday. Junior Krystal Mlemchukwu leads the team and is fourth in the conference in kills per set (3.04). Sophomore Paige Miller is fourth in the conference and first on the Retrievers in assists per set (9.08).

Series History vs. Opponents 

This will be the first meeting between Delaware State and Stony Brook. The Seawolves downed UMBC in four sets Oct. 3 and took a 13-11 lead in the all-time series.

History Made

Teammates Lo Hathaway and Melissa Rigo made the Seawolves’ match vs. New Hampshire Oct. 18 one for the history books. Hathaway passed Claire Linder (2003-06) for the program’s all-time Division I digs record when she recorded her 1,361st dig in the third frame. Rigo became the ninth player in program history and first since Alicia Nelson in 2011 to reach 1,000 career kills on her 14th and final kill of the night in the fourth set. Impressively, it only took three years for Hathaway and Rigo to hit these milestones.

Go Rigo

Melissa Rigo is ninth in school history with 1,023 career kills.  The 2013 America East All-Academic selection and 2012 Rookie of the Year leads the team in double-doubles (9) and is second in digs (2.69/set) and kills (2.81/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

Redshirt junior Lo Hathaway broke the Division I career digs record and is fourth all-time at Stony Brook with 1,390 career digs. She topped single-season school digs mark last season with 553 digs and finished fifth in single-season program history in digs per set at 4.29. Hathaway leads the team in digs per set (3.79).

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 267 career block assists and fourth with 344 total stuffs. She 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 in blocks per set at 1.18. She moved into sole possession of fourth-place on Stony Brook’s all-time block assist ledger with a five-block performance Friday vs. Hartford. She has 241 block assists for her career, which puts her ahead of Amy Oleksiej (2004-07), who recorded 236 block assists during her tenure. Gillie is fifth in single-season school history with 93 combo-stuffs. Stony Brook ranks second in conference in stuffs per stanza at 2.01. 

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

The Seawolves return to Pritchard for their final regular-season home matches. They will play Binghamton Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. and Albany Sunday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m.