SBU Sports: Seawolves take down Highlanders 3-0

Sophomore middle blocker Abby Campbell and freshman middle blocker Erin Garr combined for 22 kills as they helped lead the women’s volleyball team to a sweep over NJIT on Nov. 7. With the win, Stony Brook improves to (13-12, 7-4 America East) with one match to go before the America East Tournament.

Campbell and Garr had it going all day for the Seawolves as each notched a hitting percentage of over .500 in the sweep. Campbell accounted for three of her kills in the first set as Stony Brook was in control of the frame from the very beginning. The Seawolves received five kills from sophomore outside hitter Leoni Kunz en route to a 25-13 first set victory.

Stony Brook kept the momentum going in the second set as it held off NJIT who battled its way through the frame. Garr had her way with the opposition as she tallied six of her 10 kills in the second set. Campbell provided a steady offensive presence from the middle as she notched three kills in the set. The Highlanders put up a fight, but the Seawolves pulled away with a 25-22 win to go up 2-0 in the match.

The Seawolves began the third set on a 6-0 run as they led wire-to-wire in the frame on their way to the sweep. Stony Brook took the third set by the final set score of 25-13 and received six kills from Campbell in the set. 

STATS AND NOTES

Campbell finished with a match-high 12 kills on .556 hitting from the middle. The sophomore also tallied three blocks in the win. It was the sixth time this season that Campbell totaled 10 or more kills in a match. The 12 kills were her most since she recorded a season-best 18 against Wofford on August 27.

Garr registered 10 kills and a hitting percentage of .526. It was the third time this season that she notched 10 or more kills in a match and the first time since she had 11 kills against Akron on September 18.  

Sophomore setter Torri Henry paced the Seawolves’ offensive attack as she tallied a match-high 29 assists. Henry also added six digs, three blocks, and two kills in the win.

Graduate libero Kiani Kerstetter picked up a match-high 17 digs as the Seawolves’ defense held NJIT to .095 hitting.

Redshirt junior middle block Nia Wattley recorded a season-high seven kills and hit .294 as she earned the start for Stony Brook. Wattley also added a pair of blocks in the match.

Senior outside hitter Hailey Barden picked up nine digs coming off the bench for Stony Brook.

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“It was good to come in today and execute at a high-level. I thought our defensive effort really locked in and put us in good situations. Overall, we were able to score thanks to being in system and giving our attackers some additional court to work with. This was an important match for us to come in focused and ready to roll and I am proud of our team for doing that,” said head coach Kristin Belzung.

The team returns to Pritchard Gymnasium for senior day on Nov. 12, when it hosts UMBC at 6 p.m. The match is free to attend and open to the public.