Aug. 30, 2008

Box Score

New Britain, Conn. - Stony Brook University's volleyball team won both of its matches Saturday night, beating Bucknell in straight sets, 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-22), before topping Central Connecticut State University, 3-1 (39-37, 25-19, 23-25, 25-22). Seniors Gulce Nazli Dikecligil (Istanbul, Turkey) and Jessica Graham (Eastport, N.Y.) were both named to the all-tournament team. Stony Brook is now 2-1 on the season.

In their first set against Bucknell, the Seawolves had six different players record kills as freshman setter Kelsey Sullivan (Hamilton, Va.) dished out 14 assists.

Stony Brook jumped out to an early lead in set two, led by three serving aces from junior Michelle Burrola (Glendale, Ariz.). Down 21-15, Bucknell rallied late, going on a 4-1 scoring streak to pull within three. The Seawolves answered quickly though with three kills from Graham, sophomore Ashley Headen (Alexandria, Va.) and junior Lisa Doremus (Glendale, Ariz.) and won the set, 25-19.

In set three, with the Seawolves trailing 9-3, Graham showed off her serving prowess, delivering four aces in a row to pull Stony Brook within three. The two teams traded points for most of the match before Stony Brook grabbed its first lead at 19-18 on a kill by sophomore Alicia Nelson (Apple Valley, Minn.). The Seawolves never looked back, winning the final set, 25-22.

As if playing two matches in one day was not tiring enough, the Seawolves had a marathon first set against Central Connecticut State University, eventually winning 39-37. The Seawolves recorded 24 kills in that set and had an attack percentage of .302 as a team.

Overall, the Seawolves had four players with double-digit kills against the Blue Devils, while Sullivan set a new school-record, finishing 65 assists in the four-set match.

Stony Brook travels to Kingston, R.I. on Thursday to compete in the Ram Classic Invitational, starting with a match against Rhode Island at 7:00 p.m.