Team-first Seawolves Lo Hathaway and Melissa Rigo share in success but have a loftier goal in mind.

See a video version of the story in this week's Get Your RED on Minute

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Two teammates. Two milestones. One night.

Redshirt junior Lo Hathaway and junior Melissa Rigo of the Stony Brook volleyball team made history together against New Hampshire Oct. 18 at Pritchard Gymnasium. Hathaway secured her place as Stony Brook’s Division I leader in digs and Rigo became the ninth player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills. Perhaps more remarkably, they achieved this in only three years on the court. Hathaway and Rigo were humble about their accomplishments.

“It’s almost weird talking about individual goals because we’re a team that’s focusing solely on team goals,” Hathaway admitted.

Rigo too was far more appreciative of the opportunity to help her team than receive accolades for her individual performance. “I try to play for other people—my parents, my teammates next to me,” the East Northport, N.Y., native explained. “It was a really good feeling to [reach 1,000 kills] at home in front of people that I know and people that have always supported me.”

Since the UNH match, Hathaway and Rigo have only improved their numbers and places in Seawolves history. Hathaway is a mere 33 digs away from moving into third all-time on Stony Brook's career dig leaderboard, while Rigo trails former Seawolf and 2011 America East Player of the Year Alicia Nelson by only two positions on the career kills (Rigo is ninth with 1,023 kills; Nelson is seventh with 1,308 kills).

Upon mention of Nelson, Rigo reflected, "She was one of my idols before I came here, so if I can even compare or come close to her that would be one of my goals.”

Despite having moved up the rankings, the pair was quick to acknowledge the fact that they owe their success to their teammates.

“They’re the ones touching the second ball and getting me those stats,” Hathaway explained.

Rigo noted that she feeds off the energy the 5-2 libero brings to the court. “If she gets a really good dig, I’m so excited for her and then she’s underneath me covering me telling me where to hit,” she grinned. “If I get a kill, she just gets ecstatic.”

As they look towards the future, Hathaway and Rigo are not thinking about personal statistics. Ultimately, they are focused on winning a conference championship.

“We just talk about being the best we can be and giving our best effort,” Hathaway revealed. “If we give our best effort we’re going to win a championship, it just goes hand in hand.”

Stony Brook volleyball has yet to win an America East title or appear in the NCAA Div. I Tournament. These two hope to be a part of a team that changes that.

“I came here because I knew they never won a championship,” Rigo stated. “I wanted to say that I was here when we won the first championship.”

Winning the conference tournament will require a great deal of hard work, but the duo believes that the team is prepared to take the necessary steps to get there. They plan to do just that, take small steps toward their objective. Thus, goal setting will be an important part of accomplishing a feat no other volleyball team has in the school’s Division I history.

Rigo put it into perspective stating, “We need to take it match by match and not look at the big picture right away.”

“It’s definitely ‘eyes on the prize,’ but we’re trying to take it one day at a time and give everything we have every single day,” Hathaway agreed.

Although intrinsically motivated to win, Hathaway further credits head coach Coley Pawlikowski with helping ready the team for the challenges that lie ahead. “Her attitude of never settling for anything less than we can give is preparing every single person to be good in her position but also us to win a championship,” she stated.

With five conference matches left in the season, Hathaway and Rigo have brushed off their individual feats and are taking to the court thinking solely about their chief team goal because as Hathaway so plainly stated, “That’s really all that matters.”