LINCOLN, Neb. – The Stony Brook volleyball team was unable to get by Nebraska in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, falling in three sets at the Devany Center Friday night. Maria Poole and McKyla Brooks led the Seawolves in the match with five kills apiece. The Seawolves finished the 2017 season with an 18-12 overall record.
  
Belzung's Reaction
"To have the opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time is an amazing experience," said head coach Kristin Belzung. "Obviously I would have loved to see a different result, but Nebraska is a heck of a team. Offensively they had a great night. We tried to do as much as we could to dig balls, but unfortunately it wasn't enough."
 
Set-By-Set

• Nebraska used a steady push throughout the opening set to maintain the lead throughout. Stony Brook never allowed a long run but was unable to get anything going offensively, falling 25-10.
• The Huskers jumped out to a 5-0 lead to start Set 2, but sophomore Maria Poole (Stavanger, Norway) was able to break up the early run with a pair of kills. Junior McKyla Brooks (Blasdell, N.Y.) broke up a pair of late three-point runs to try and get the Seawolves back in it, but the difference was too much as they dropped Set 2, 25-14.
• Stony Brook kept things close early in Set 3, but five straight points by the Huskers broke the four-all tie and forced the Seawolves to use their first timeout. The run ended at nine straight points before a service error by the Huskers broke it up. Nebraska continued to pull away and closed out the match with a 25-12 win.

Notes

• This was the first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history after the Seawolves claimed their first America East Championship.
• Stony Brook's 18 wins this season were the most by the Seawolves since the 2007 season (24).
• Sophomore LeAnne Sakowicz (Wauconda, Ill.) finished her sophomore season with 1,251 assists, ranking her ninth on Stony Brook's single-season charts.
• Freshman Kiani Kerstetter (Cardiff, Calif.) tallied 547 digs in her collegiate debut, which is good for second on the Seawolves' single-season list.
• Brooks finished her junior season with a .326 hitting percentage, putting her at No. 8 on Stony Brook's single-season chart.