Final Stats

Stony Brook, N.Y. – Fueled by double-doubles from juniors Melissa Rigo and Nicole Vogel and redshirt junior Kathy Fletcher, the Stony Brook volleyball team topped UMBC, 3-1, (25-19, 20-25, 25-19, 25-15), in America East volleyball action Friday night at Pritchard Gymnasium. The Seawolves are on a six-match winning streak and are 6-0 at home in 2014.

Fletcher posted a match-high 17 kills to go along with 10 digs. Vogel tallied 37 assists and 16 digs, and Rigo added 10 kills and 16 digs in another balanced effort for Stony Brook (10-7, 2-0 America East).

UMBC, the preseason favorite to win the conference, fell to 6-8 overall and 0-1 in league play.

Head Coach Coley Pawlikowski’s Reaction

“We were really excited to come into the match tonight as we are any America East match. We did a really good job of bringing the energy tonight. Our band, our men’s soccer team and the student-athletes here provided an awesome energy. That’s something we fed off of as the match continued, and then we started to create our own. UMBC is a great team. They play scrappy. They play hard. We were excited to go pound-for-pound, and I think we did a really good job of that.”

Recap

• With Stony Brook ahead by two, 15-13, in the opening stanza, Rigo smacked one over the net and moments later punctuated a 4-0 run with an ace that put SBU in front, 19-13. The visitors called timeout and tallied three of the next four points to pull to within within four, 20-16, but three straight Fletcher kills and an Evann Slaughter slam gave SBU a 24-16 lead and set-point opportunity. After three consecutive Retrievers points, Rigo hammered one home to send Stony Brook to a first-set victory.
• UMBC recovered an early 10-4 deficit and took the second frame, 25-20.
• The third set was back-and-forth throughout. Fletcher broke an 18-all tie with a kill and then teamed up with Taylor Gillie for a stuff that gave Stony Brook a 20-18 edge. The Seawolves committed an attack error to allow the guests within one, 20-19, but bounced back by tallying five unanswered points to end the stanza.
• UMBC came out strong in the fourth frame and took a 10-6 lead on a kill. Rigo responded with a smack to spark a 6-0 Seawolves spurt that tipped the scales in their favor, 12-10. A Retrievers kill broke up the run and put the score at 12-11, but they followed with an attack error. McFadden recorded back-to-back aces to stretch the lead to four, 15-11. UMBC committed another attack error but scored a kill, keeping the margin at four, 16-12. Stony Brook continued to dominate; however, taking a 21-12 advantage when Gillie combined with Slaughter for a block. The Seawolves later clinched the match on a Rigo slam.

 

By the Numbers

• Stony Brook held a 10.5-9.5 advantage in blocks, with Gillie tallying a match-high eight stuffs. Fletcher added four blocks, and Slaughter and McFadden registered three blocks apiece.
• Slaughter finished with nine kills.
• Redshirt junior Lo Hathaway posted 13 digs.
• The Seawolves held UMBC to .000 hitting percentages in the third and fourth sets and a .102 overall hitting percentage.

 

News and Notes

• Vogel’s 37 helpers led the contest. She and Rigo tied for the match high with 16 digs apiece.
• Vogel and Rigo tallied their team-leading sixth double-doubles of the season, and Fletcher produced her second. Vogel has posted a double-double in three straight matches.
• Stony Brook improved to 13-11 all-time vs. UMBC.
• The Seawolves are 13-2 at Pritchard Gymnasium under Pawlikowski, including a 7-1 conference mark.
• The enthusiastic crowd included the band and men’s soccer team.

 

Up Next

The Seawolves begin a three-match road swing at Sacred Heart Tuesday at 7 p.m.