Seton Hall University
Stony Brook
Volleyball Downs Stony Brook, 3-2
9/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Sophomore Stacey Manthorpe (Merion Station, Pa.) notched her seventh double-double of the season as the Seton Hall women's volleyball team held off a spirited Stony Brook team, 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 25-22, 14-25, 15-11), in the opening game of the 2012 Seton Hall Invitational on Friday.
The victory is Seton Hall's seventh straight and improves it to 10-1 on the season, its best start since 1996.
Manthorpe recorded a team-high 12 kills to go with 15 digs in the winning effort. Shelbey Manthorpe (Merion Station, Pa.) added nine kills to go with a team-high 37 assists. The sisters combined to tally seven of the team's 10 kills in the fifth and deciding match.
Freshman Molly Grammer (Center Valley, Pa.) recorded 10 kills to go with a career-high six blocks.
Libero Alyssa Warren (Joliet, Ill.) had another big defensive game picking up a team-high 19 digs.
Senior Morgan DeVries (Grand Rapids, Mich.) had seven kills with a team-best attack percentage of .500 to go with five blocks.
Seton Hall got off on the right foot steadily building a large lead in the first set. A kill by Shelbey Manthorpe gave the Pirates a 19-12 lead, but Stony Brook came charging back on an 8-2 run that pulled the Seawolves to within one at 21-20. Seton Hall however, would never relinquish the lead and took the first set, 25-21.
It appeared as through the Pirates would cruise to a two-set lead when they took an 8-1 lead in set two, but again Stony Brook rebounded and slowly chipped away at the Seton Hall lead. Kaitlin Costello spiked home a point for the Seawolves late in the set to give them their first lead of the second frame, 21-20. Seton Hall would never regain footing and Melissa Rigo's kill put an exclamation point on a 25-23 second set win for Stony Brook.
Set three began as the opposite of set two. The Pirates found themselves in an early 5-1 deficit, but dug deep to go on a 9-2 run and take a 10-7 lead. After four more ties, Seton Hall pulled away late for a 25-22 third set victory to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Stony Brook (4-7) dominated set four. The Seawolves led by as many as 12 points and cruised to a 25-14 victory to tie the match at two sets apiece and force a deciding fifth set.
The Pirates grabbed a 4-1 lead before another small run by Stony Brook knotted the set at five. The teams would exchange points throughout the mid-portion of the set, but with the score tied at 10, Seton Hall would tally five of the last six points to squeeze out the hard-fought victory.
Melissa Rigo recorded a match-high 21 kills in the defeat for Stony Brook. Nicole Vogel tallied a double-double with a match-high 45 assists to go with a team-high 19 digs.
The Pirates will return to Walsh Gym tomorrow with the conclusion of the 2012 Seton Hall Invitational. Saturday will feature a double-header with Stony Brook taking on Morgan State at 11:00 am before the Pirates host Morgan State at 3:00 pm.
