BALTIMORE, Md. – The Stony Brook University volleyball team (13-14, 7-5 America East) left it all out on the court in the conference semifinals as it narrowly fell to UMBC (18-11, 12-0 America East) in a five-set classic on Friday. The Seawolves put forth a valiant effort as they battled from the opening serve to the final point.
Stony Brook jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the match as it picked up a win in the first set by the score of 25-22. The opening set victory was fueled by a late 4-0 run by the Seawolves, which pushed them to the win. The teams played an all but even first set as both sides traded points through the duration of the set. The Seawolves were able to tie the set up at 22-22 and then closed the set out with sophomore setter
Torri Henry on the service line.
UMBC responded by grabbing a tightly contested second set. The Retrievers came out victorious by the final set score of 27-25 to tie the match up at 1-1. Stony Brook opened the set on a 6-0 run, but UMBC responded by chipping away at the deficit. The teams traded blows until the Retrievers pulled away with the set as they went on a 3-0 run to close the frame out in their favor. Sophomore outside hitter
Leoni Kunz paced the Stony Brook offense in the set as she racked up six kills.
The third set was much like the second as both teams went back and forth for the duration of the stanza. This time, it was the Seawolves who were victorious as they came away with a 27-25 set win to go up 2-1 in the match. After tying the match up at 25-25, Stony Brook closed the set out by forcing back-to-back attack errors to clinch the win. Senior middle blocker
Enitan Omolewa and Kunz each chipped in with five kills apiece, while Henry dished out 14 assists in the set.
The Retrievers did not rollover in the fourth set as they hung on to pick up a 25-19 win to tie the match up at 2-2 and force a deciding fifth set. UMBC used a 5-0 run to go up 22-16 at a crucial point of the match. From there, the Retrievers were able to seal the fourth set by scoring three of the final five points tallied in the frame.
A fifth and final set was needed to determine who was advancing to Saturday's championship match. UMBC had a chance to end the match as it led 14-12, but Stony Brook scored three-straight points to go up 15-14 and had its shot of winning the match. A Seawolves service error tied the match up at 15-15 and from there the Retrievers scored the final two points to take the set, 17-15, and seal the win in a thrilling five-set classic.
STATS AND NOTES
- Stony Brook had four student-athletes finish the match with 10 or more kills and four student-athletes finish with 10 or more digs.
- Kunz led the Seawolves with 17 kills and picked up 13 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. It was her first double-double since October 8, against New Hampshire. The 17 kills were her most in a match since she recorded a career-high 20 against Akron on September 18.
- Henry paced the offensive attack as she dished out a career-high tying 57 assists. The setter also picked up 12 digs for her team-best ninth double-double of the season. It marked the fourth time this season that she handed out 50 or more assists in a match. The 57 helpers tie her career-high which she previously recorded against Tarleton State on September 10.
- Graduate libero Kiani Kerstetter anchored the defense with a career-high tying 33 digs. Kerstetter helped hold UMBC to .197 hitting as she covered the entire court. The 33 digs tied her career-high which she previously set against Colgate on September 15, 2017, during her freshman season.
- Omolewa tied a career-high with 15 kills from the middle and totaled four blocks for 17.0 points.
- Sophomore middle blocker Abby Campbell and junior outside hitter Amiyah De'Long each finished the match with 13 kills apiece.
- Sophomore libero Julia Patsos picked up a career-high 20 digs.
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