STANDISH, Maine - Saint Joseph's College (9-20, 3-8 GNAC) completed conference play with contests versus Lasell College (6-25, 3-6 GNAC) and Anna Maria College (13-13, 4-7 GNAC) at the Harold Alfond Center on Saturday. The Monks suffered a 3-2 (21-25, 25-12, 27-29, 25-22, 16-18) loss to the Lasers in the opener can capped the day with a 3-1 (25-15, 29-27, 23-25, 25-10) triumph over the AMCATS. The five-set setback at the hands of Lasell eliminated Saint Joseph's from GNAC Tournament contention.
In the loss to Lasell, junior Felicia Wachowiak (Milton, N.H.) totaled 17 kills and nine digs with a career-high 10 block solos and sophomore Shadai Gosselin (Somersworth, N.H.) notched an impressive double-double with a personal-best 14 kills and 20 digs. Junior Abbie McPhee (Epping, N.H.) also chimed in with a double-double, contributing 33 assists and 20 digs, junior Sam Wright (Westport, Mass.) boasted a match-high 31 digs, and junior Alli Hollander (Thermal, Calif.) added 13 digs and six assists.
With the result, Saint Joseph's falls to 3-9 versus Lasell College since 1989 and has now dropped three-consecutive matches at the hands of the Lasers. The Monks also fall to 0-8 in five-set matches on the season with the loss.
Heading into the day, St. Joe's looked to gain entrance into the GNAC Tournament with a pair of victories in the tri-match versus Lasell and Anna Maria, but the loss to the Lasers effectively put an end to the team's hopes of earning a playoff berth, meaning the Monks would miss the tourney for the first time in five seasons under the watch of Head Coach Yamile Nolan.
Facing Anna Maria College – a team that skated past Lasell with a 3-1 triumph in the sandwich match – in the nightcap, the Monks had nothing but pride for which to play and, despite the disappointment of the opening loss, breezed past the AMCATS with a 3-1 win behind a tremendous individual effort put forth by Wachowiak.
Coming off an excellent performance against the Lasers, Wachowiak put an exclamation point on her day by recording a career-high 24 kills in 39 attempts for an unreal .564 attack percentage in almost singlehandedly leading the Royal Blue past the AMCATS. Her kill tally tied a four-set record that stood unblemished for 12 years (originally set by Hillary Collyer '03 versus Maine-Farmington in 2002) and also pushed her kills total past the 900 mark for her career.
Gosselin also performed well in the victory with eight kills and 12 digs, McPhee added 35 assists and 22 digs, junior Cassie Leech (Westborough, Mass.) contributed six kills and 11 digs, and Wright chipped in with 25 digs versus Anna Maria.
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 7-0 against Anna Maria College since the 1989 season. The AMCATS, a much-improved program this fall, have locked up either the #7 or #8 seed in the upcoming GNAC Tournament.
Prior to the start of the tri-match, the volleyball program held a brief ceremony to honor a pair of seniors: Emilee Penman (Montville, Conn.) and Kaela Murphy (Salem, Mass.). Penman is a four-year member of the program and helped the Monks post a 68-52 (.567) record with three playoff berths during her career. Murphy played parts of two seasons – her freshman and sophomore years – before suffering a career-ending injury, but remained close to the program in a variety of capacities, most notably as a student-working in the SJC Athletic Training Room.
Saint Joseph's will close out the 2014 campaign with a non-conference tri-match at Southern Maine next Saturday. The Monks open with a 2:00 PM contest versus UMass.-Dartmouth and close the day with a match against the Huskies at 4:00 PM.
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
