Women's Volleyball 11/19/2015 12:00:00 AM

Seawolves open America East Championship against Albany

Nov. 19, 2015

Live Free and Win a Championship
The Stony Brook volleyball team treks to Durham, New Hampshire, for the America East Championship Friday and Saturday at Lundholm Gymnasium. The No. 3 seed Seawolves will square off with No. 2 seed Albany in Friday’s first semifinal with the winner taking on the winner of No. 1 seed New Hampshire and No. 4 seed Binghamton. The winner of Saturday’s match earns the America East championship and an automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament.

Be the First
The Seawolves stand two victories away from their first NCAA tournament appearance in the Division I era.

Last Time Out
Stony Brook split a pair of home matches last weekend, falling in four sets to New Hampshire Friday before defeating Hartford in four Sunday. Senior Kathy Fletcher hit .344 with 3.62 kills/set on the weekend.

Scouting the Great Danes
Albany finished the regular season at 16-8 and 11-1 in America East and is currently riding a 10-match winning streak. The Great Danes have dropped just two sets in their last seven matches - both to the Seawolves Nov. 6 in Albany. The Great Danes’ lone America East defeat came at the hands of New Hampshire Oct. 2.

Tatum Jungsten leads America East with a .303 hitting percentage, while Amanda Dolan leads the conference with 1.16 blocks/set. Laini Leindecker is second in America East with 3.51 kills/set.

The Last Time We Met: Albany
The Great Danes took both regular-season meetings in five sets, winning at Pritchard Gymnasium Oct. 11 and in Albany Nov. 6. In the second meeting, the Seawolves set the program record for digs with 122.

Scouting the Wildcats
New Hampshire is 19-8 and 11-1 in America East following a 2-0 weekend with wins over the Seawolves and UMBC. The Wildcats’ lone America East loss is to Albany Nov. 1.

Keelin Severtson leads America East with 9.51 assists/set and 0.54 aces/set, the latter good for third in the nation. Demi Muses leads the Wildcats at 2.93 kills/set with Tori Forrest at 2.92.

The Last Time We Met: New Hampshire
If the Wildcats are the opponent, it will be the third-straight year the teams have met in the America East Championship. The Seawolves fell to the Wildcats in the semifinals in 2013 and 2014. This year, Stony Brook fell in three sets in Durham Oct. 17 and in four at home last Friday.

Scouting the Bearcats
Binghamton was one of three teams to finish America East play at 6-6 and won the head-to-head tiebreak with UMBC after the Seawolves came out on top in the three-team tiebreak. The Bearcats have won four consecutive matches entering the America East Championship.

Bailey Walker leads America East with 4.86 digs/set. Gabby Alicea leads the Bearcats with 2.48 kills/set, while Bianca Anderson has posted a team-best .280 hitting percentage. Kristella Morina is second in the conference with 0.96 blocks/set.

The Last Time We Met: Binghamton
Binghamton earned a split of the season series with a five-set victory over the Seawolves Nov. 7 in Vestal. The Seawolves took the meeting at Pritchard in three sets Oct. 9.

Amory vs. Albany
Sophomore Melann Amory has risen to the occasion defensively against the Great Danes, recording 3.30 digs/set over the first two meetings of the year. Amory had 16 digs against Albany at Pritchard Oct. 11 and followed it up with 17 in Albany Nov. 6.

Cyd the Kid
Sophomore Cydney Bowman had a career performance in the last meeting between the Seawolves and Great Danes, hitting .560 with 16 kills and 19 digs Nov. 6.

Fletcher Will Getcha
Senior Kathy Fletcher had two of her top career performances against Albany this year. Fletcher tallied a career-high 28 kills against the Great Danes Oct. 11 and a career-best 22 digs Nov. 6. The Illinois native’s top career performances in kills, digs and blocks have all come against the Great Danes.

Record Store
A pair of team single-match records have fallen this season for the Seawolves. First, Stony Brook hit a program-record .558 in an Oct. 23 victory over Delaware State. Two weeks later, the Seawolves tallied a program-best 122 digs in a Nov. 6 match at Albany. The previous dig record of 121 had stood since a Sept. 30, 2000 match against Penn.

Up Next...
With a pair of victories this weekend, the Seawolves would win their first America East title and earn a berth in the NCAA tournament for the first time in the Division I era.

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