STONY BROOK, N.Y. - The Seawolves took an early 1-0 lead against UNCW on Friday but could not close the door as they dropped the next three sets in a 3-1 loss (27-29, 25-15, 25-15, 25-23).
Sanders paced Stony Brook with 16 kills and two aces while finishing second in digs with 13, trailing only Zayda Fuertez with 16.
How It Happened
SET 1 | The Seawolves quickly found themselves in a 14-7 hole after an 8-1 Seahawks run. A block and a kill from Sanders would help lower the lead down to three, only for UNCW to go back up by seven out of the media timeout. Once again, however, Stony Brook came back and cut the lead down to 19-17 as four different Seawolves picked up a kill in a 5-0 tear. Sanders would continue to lead the way and knot up the set at 23-23 with three more kills, before both teams went point-for-point up to a 27-27 tie. A Quinn Anderson kill and a Seahawks attack error would ultimately complete the comeback.
SET 2 | Mercedes Motton accounted for all of Stony Brook's scoring early on as she logged three kills and two blocks to hold UNCW to a 10-5 lead out of the gate. The Seawolves were unable to slow the Seahawks' attack as the deficit grew to 10, eventually culminating in a final score of 25-15.
SET 3 | The Seawolves found themselves in another five-point hole to begin set three. UNCW's lead would only grow from there as it entered the media timeout up 15-6. Though Sanders and Damisi Osibodu would each notch two more kills each, it was not enough to get the Seawolves back into it as they were again bested 25-15.
SET 4 | Stony Brook came out stronger in the fourth, forcing a UNCW timeout after tying it up at 10-10 as five Seawolves recorded a kill to go along with an ace from Rayanne Wheat. A Seahawks attack error would then give Stony Brook its first lead since set one at 12-11. UNCW did manage to retake a 19-16 lead, but a 5-0 run featuring another three kills from Sanders made it 21-19. After a Sanders ace made it 23-20, however, the Seahawks responded with five unanswered to close out the match.
Notable Stats
- Sanders now has 21 career double-doubles, including nine this year.
- Wheat picked up her fourth career double-double after leading the team with 22 assists and logging 11 digs.
- Anderson eclipsed 700 career kills tonight, picking up four in the match to give her 701.
- Fuertez is just two digs away from 600 in her career.
- Osibodu had three blocks tonight to bring her season total to 110, just 17 away now from 10th on the program's all-time single-season leaderboard.
Up Next
Stony Brook concludes the series on Halloween day tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. The match will be streamed live on FloCollege.
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