STONY BROOK, NY - The Stony Brook volleyball team stormed back after an early one-set deficit to secure a 3-1 win (23-25, 25-18, 25-17, 25-17) against Rhode Island Rams on Sunday at Pritchard Gymnasium. With this win, the Seawolves not only start their 2025 campaign a perfect 3-0, but also took first place in the Stony Brook Invite, followed by URI (2-1), Siena (1-2), and Central Connecticut (0-3).
Kali Moore secured Tournament MVP honors after recording 16 more kills and nine digs today to give her 47 kills and 39 digs on the weekend. Ava Zamora also earned All-Tournament honors after beginning her collegiate career with 115 assists and 31 digs, while Ayanna Pierre Louis rounded out Stony Brook's trio of honorees with 20 kills, a .370 attack percentage, and nine blocks.
How It Happened
SET 1 | Initially falling into a 7-2 hole to start the opening set, the Seawolves quickly fought back to tie it 10-10 thanks to a 4-0 scoring run that featured the first Stony Brook ace of the day courtey of Madison Cigna. Both teams would trade leads over the next few points, culminating in the score ending up tied seven more times down the stretch. The Seawolves did have a chance to put things away at 23-22, only for the Rams to end the set on a 3-0 run.
SET 2 | After dropping the first set for the first time this season, Stony Brook immediately bounced back to even the match at one set apiece. The Seawolves took the set powered by a strong performance on the attacking end, registering a .321 attack percentage with 12 kills in the set win. At one point trailing 13-12, the Seawolves went on a 6-0 scoring run that saw a pair of aces from Moore and kills for Aajaylah Zeno and Quinn Anderson. With a five-point lead in tow, Stony Brook cruised to the finish as Zamora finished things off with the team's fourth aces of the set.
SET 3 | The third set proceeded almost identically to the second, with the Seawolves holding a slim 13-12 lead before scoring eight unanswered to take a massive nine-point lead. Mercedes Motton, Moore, and Quinn all had two points apiece during the 8-0 run. Though the Rams would respond with a 5-0 run to cut the lead down to just five, four-straight Seawolves points capped off by back-to-back aces from Carey-Jean Block gave Stony Brook a 2-1 lead. The offense remained potent all throughout the set with an impressive 15 kills along with another four aces.
SET 4 | For the third set in a row, Stony Brook managed to pull away halfway through and keep Rhode Island at bay as the Seawolves ended the day with another 25-17 set victory. Again leading by just one at 14-13, a pair of Rams attack errors and two kills from Moore put the Seawolves back in the driver seat. Up 21-17 and with victory in sight, Stony Brook wrapped up the day four-straight points from Motton, Pierre Louis, and Anderson to claim the win in the Stony Brook Invite.
Game Notes
» In addition to Moore, Zeno and Anderson both topped double-digit kills today with 10 each. The two have 35 and 21 kills on the season, respectively.
» Motton led the team with four blocks today, giving her a team-high 14 on the weekend.
» The Seawolves totaled 10 service aces today, with Moore recording a match-high four.
» Zamora completes her first week of collegiate play with 115 assists after picking up another 37 today.
» Stony Brook got a team-high 14 digs from Zayda Fuertez.
All-Tournament Team
» CCSU - Annabelle Denommé
» Siena - Doga Diraz
» Rhode Island - Chloe Abuto, Havyn Rolle
» Stony Brook - Kali Moore (MVP), Ava Zamora, Ayanna Pierre Louis
Up Next
The Seawolves hit the road for the first time this season next week when they compete in the DoubleTree Invitational hosted by SMU in Dallas Texas. Stony Brook kicks things off on Thursday, September 4 vs. Northern Iowa, before taking on Washington on Friday and SMU on Saturday.
