Women's Volleyball 11/5/2015 12:00:00 AM

Seawolves look to clinch conference tournament berth this weekend

Nov. 5, 2015

NOTES (For full notes, view PDF)

Seawolves Hit the Road for In-State Showdowns
The Stony Brook volleyball team, 8-3 in its last 11 matches, takes its final road trip of the regular season with matches at Albany and Binghamton Friday and Saturday.

E=MC²The scenarios for clinching a spot in the America East Championship will not require Einstein to decode, but there are plenty of situations on the table in the penultimate weekend of conference play. Stony Brook can secure a spot in the conference tournament Friday with a win and a Binghamton loss to UMBC. The Seawolves can also take care of business simply with a win over Binghamton Saturday. There are other scenarios at play regarding tiebreakers that will be contingent on Sunday’s results.

Last Time Out
Stony Brook swept UMass Lowell Friday night at Pritchard Gymnasium. Senior Kathy Fletcher hit .500 with 16 kills while senior Nicole Vogel tallied 40 assists and 13 digs.

Scouting the Great Danes
Albany is 13-8 and 8-1 in America East following a sweep of New Hampshire Sunday to move into a tie for first place in the conference standings. The tiebreaker between the two teams is yet to be determined and will likely come down to results against the Seawolves and UMBC.

Laini Leindecker leads Albany and America East with 3.61 kills/set. Tatum Jungsten is first both for the Great Danes and in the conference with a .304 hitting percentage. Mikala McCauley is second in America East with 9.23 assists/set, while Amanda Dolan leads the league with 1.19 blocks/set.

The Last Time We Met: Albany
Stony Brook suffered its only home loss in the last six weeks with a five-set defeat at the hands of Albany Oct. 11 at Pritchard Gymnasium. The Great Danes took the first and second sets before Stony Brook won the third and fourth to force a fifth, won 15-9 by Albany. Kathy Fletcher had a career-high 28 kills in the defeat.

Scouting the Bearcats
Binghamton is 6-18 and 3-6 in America East and split last weekend with a loss to New Hampshire and a four-set win over Hartford. Two of the Bearcats’ three conference wins have come against the Hawks with the third at home against UMass Lowell.

Gabby Alicea leads the Bearcats with 2.36 kills/set while Bianca Anderson has posted a team-high .254 hitting percentage. Sarah Ngo has recorded 8.77 assists/set while Bailey Walker leads America East with 4.86 digs/set.

The Last Time We Met: Binghamton
Stony Brook won its fourth-straight match and moved to 3-0 in America East with a sweep of Binghamton Oct. 9 at Pritchard Gymnasium. Senior Kathy Fletcher hit .424 with 16 kills while freshman McKyla Brooks hit .471 with nine kills.

Ace of Base
Senior Stephanie McFadden ranks ninth nationally with 0.49 aces/set. As a team, the Seawolves are 32nd with 1.58 aces/set.

Sweeps Month
The Seawolves are 8-3 in their last 11 matches with all eight wins - Fordham, UMBC, Binghamton, Hartford, Sacred Heart, Delaware State and two against UMass Lowell - coming in three sets.

Talking ‘Bout Chi-Town
Senior Kathy Fletcher surpassed the 1,000-kill mark for her collegiate career in the Oct. 23 win over Delaware State. Of those first 1,000, 258 came while Fletcher was a freshman at Division II Ashland University in 2011. Fletcher is second in America East this season with 3.55 kills/set.

The Freshmen
Freshman Morgan Kath is third in America East in assists/set with 9.13. McKyla Brooks has recorded a .291 hitting percentage so far this year, good for third in America East. Both marks lead conference freshmen. All three freshmen - Kath, Brooks and Taylor Wilson - have won America East Rookie of the Week in 2015.

Boston Calling
The Seawolves have garnered an America East weekly award nine times in the season’s first 10 weeks. Morgan Kath was named Setter of the Week Aug. 31 and Sept. 28 and Rookie of the Week Sept. 21, while McKyla Brooks earned Rookie of the Week honors Sept. 8 and Sept. 28, Nicole Vogel was tabbed as Setter of the Week Oct. 5 and Oct. 26, Kathy Fletcher was honored as Player of the Week Oct. 12 and Taylor Wilson earned Rookie of the Week honors Nov. 2.

Big Dig
Senior Lo Hathaway broke the Seawolves’ program record for digs Sept. 5 vs. Holy Cross, passing Jessica Serrano with her 1,531st as a Seawolf.

New York State of Mind
The Seawolves have defeated eight New York State opponents since Coach Pawlikowski took over in 2013 (Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Columbia, Fordham, Manhattan, St. Francis Brooklyn, Syracuse). The Seawolves added Columbia to the list Sept. 18.

Up Next: New Hampshire & Hartford
The Seawolves close out the regular season with matches at Pritchard Gymnasium against New Hampshire and Hartford. The Seawolves host the Wildcats Friday, Nov. 13 at 5 p.m. and the Hawks Sunday, Nov. 15 at 1 p.m.

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