Navy volleyball falls to Stony Brook in straight sets at Kristen Dickmann Invitational
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Navy volleyball closed the Kristen Dickmann Invitational with a 3-0 loss to Stony Brook on Sunday afternoon at Wesley A. Brown Field House. The Seawolves defeated the Midshipmen 25-16, 25-20 and 25-22, dropping Navy to 1-5 on the young season while Stony Brook improved to 4-3. Navy struggled offensively for much of the afternoon, finishing with just 24 kills and a .075 hitting percentage.
Stony Brook seized control almost immediately in the opening set. After the teams were tied at 2, the Seawolves exploded for nine consecutive points and built an 11-2 advantage. Navy eventually trimmed the deficit to four points on two occasions, but the early hole proved too large to overcome as Stony Brook took the first set, 25-16.
The Midshipmen again found themselves chasing the match early in the second set. Stony Brook jumped ahead 3-0 and later extended the advantage to 9-2 before Navy began working its way back into contention. The Mids cut the deficit to four points three different times, but Stony Brook consistently answered Navy’s rallies and finished the frame with a 25-20 victory to move within one set of the sweep.
Navy finally generated some sustained momentum in the third set despite falling behind 3-0 for the third consecutive frame. The Midshipmen answered by taking a 7-5 lead, and after Stony Brook eventually moved back in front 14-10, Navy produced its best run of the afternoon. The Mids scored seven unanswered points to grab a 17-14 advantage and give themselves a legitimate opportunity to extend the match.
Stony Brook responded with four straight points to move ahead 18-17, and the teams continued trading momentum down the stretch. Navy’s Farrah Eike delivered consecutive kills to tie the score at 20 before the Seawolves eventually moved ahead 23-21. Eike struck again to pull Navy within 23-22, but Stony Brook won the final two points to finish the set 25-22 and complete the sweep.
The largest statistical difference came on offense. Stony Brook totaled 42 kills while hitting .230, compared with Navy’s 24 kills and .075 hitting percentage. The Seawolves also held advantages in service aces, 9-4, and digs, 42-39, although Navy actually finished with a 9-8 edge in blocks.
Eike led the Midshipmen with nine kills and earned a spot on the Kristen Dickmann Invitational All-Tournament Team. Caroline Buffum finished with six kills, while Isa Boyd recorded a double-double with 13 assists and 11 digs. Siena Morgan and Ellen Gundlach each contributed five blocks as Navy continued to receive production at the net despite its offensive struggles.
Stony Brook’s Ella Sanders was the biggest individual difference-maker in the match. Sanders finished with 18 kills and 11 digs for a double-double, while Quinn Anderson added 13 kills. Sanders was later named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player as Stony Brook completed a perfect 3-0 weekend in Annapolis.
The loss completed a 1-2 weekend for Navy at its home tournament. The Midshipmen opened the Kristen Dickmann Invitational with a four-set victory over Coppin State before falling to Penn in four sets Saturday and Stony Brook in three Sunday. Through six matches, Navy is 1-5 and is hitting .166 as a team while opponents are hitting .269.
Navy will now head back on the road looking to find more consistency. The Midshipmen travel to Norfolk, Virginia, to face Old Dominion on Friday, Sept. 11, before taking on Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday. Those matches give Navy another opportunity to improve its passing, serving and offensive efficiency before Patriot League play becomes the primary focus of the schedule.
MSB Take
Navy showed some encouraging fight during the third set, but the Midshipmen cannot continue putting themselves in significant early deficits. Falling behind 11-2 in the opening set and 9-2 in the second forced Navy to spend much of the afternoon trying to recover instead of dictating how the match was played. Against a Stony Brook team that produced 42 kills and hit .230, those slow starts were simply too difficult to overcome.
The most important area moving forward is offensive consistency. Navy produced 60 kills and hit .199 against Penn one night earlier but dropped to only 24 kills and a .075 percentage against Stony Brook, showing how dramatically the offense can fluctuate from match to match. The Midshipmen have pieces to work with, particularly Eike and a blocking unit that actually outperformed Stony Brook at the net, but Navy needs better passing and more efficient attacking to turn competitive stretches into victories.
At 1-5, there is obviously work to do, but this remains the early portion of the season. The third-set response showed what Navy can look like when it controls the first contact, puts pressure on opponents and plays with confidence. The upcoming matches against Old Dominion and Maryland Eastern Shore provide another opportunity for this young Navy team to take a meaningful step forward.
