Columbia
STONY BROOK
Volleyball Cruises Past Stony Brook, 3-0
9/6/2014 4:08:00 PM | Volleyball
BOX SCORE
NEW YORK – The Columbia volleyball team received a balanced attack to cruise past Stony Brook, 3-0, at the Columbia Invitational at Levien Gymnasium Saturday afternoon. The Lions triumph came by set scores of 25-16, 25-22 and 25-7.
The victory marks a number of first for Columbia, who opened the season 2-0 for the first time since posting a 3-0 record at the Lafayette Cross-Town Tournament to commence the 2008 campaign. The win is the first back-to-back straight-set victory for the Lions since 2011 and duals as the first consecutive win for Columbia since rattling off five victories to close out the 2012 campaign.
Columbia's attack saw 10 different players record a point. Atlanta Moye-McLaren contributed double-digit kills for the second consecutive match as the junior turned in 10 on a .318 hitting clip. Classmate Katarina Jovicic hit .500 on the afternoon connecting on eight of 16 attempts. Sophomore Jennifer Petrovich dished out 25 assists as Columbia's primary setter.
Sophomore Cassie Wes paced the defense with 11 digs as Stony Brook (2-4) was held to a -.030 hitting percentage. Jovicic notched five blocks to lead the defense at the net.
The Sea Wolves were led offensively by a six-kill effort by redshirt-senior Evan Slaughter.
Trailing 3-6, Columbia's momentum picked up after a kill by Moye-McLaren that put Wes at the service line. The Lions rallied behind Wes and rattled off six unanswered points to come back and take the lead, 11-7. Following a Stony Brook time, Columbia continued to pour in the points and stretched its first set lead to 19-11. The 8-4 run featured three kills by Moye-McLaren. The Lions scored six of the final 11 points en route to the 25-16 set victory.
The second set mirrored the first with the Lions behind 3-6. The Sea Wolves navigated themselves to 9-14 advantage before the Lions retaliated with a 7-1 spurt that equalized the frame, 15-15, before a score by Wes put Columbia ahead, 16-15, for the first time in the stanza. After the score equalized at 16, the Lions build onto its lead and a block by Springer and sophomore Kesi Neblett gave the home team a 22-18 edge. Stony Brook inched within two, but a score by Jovicic put the set away with her, 25-22.
It was all Columbia in the final frame as the Lions opened the set with a 6-0 run behind Petrovich at the serving line. Out of a Seawolves break, Columbia stretched its lead with an 8-2 run to force another Stony Brook timeout. First-year Carla Dibbs' first collegiate kill ignited a stretch that closed the match, 25-7.
Columbia returns to action this evening to close out its own invitational against Fairfield at 7 p.m.
