LEWISTON, Maine -- Sophomore Claire Naughton and senior captain Chandler McGrath led the Bates volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-8, 25-22) victory over the Saint Joseph's College Monks Tuesday night at Alumni Gym.

For Saint Joseph's, senior Shadai Gosselin (Somersworth, N.H.) tallied 10 kills with nine digs, freshman Kelsey Bickford (Somersworth, N.H.) and junior Jordynne Copp (Cumberland, Maine) posted five kills apiece, senior Victoria Huntley (Ellsworth, Maine) chipped in with three kills and 12 digs, and sophomore setter Sarah Dyer (Seabrook, N.H.) added 19 assists and 10 digs. Sophomore libero Jennelle Thompson (Farmington, N.H.) notched a match-high 17 digs in the loss.

Naughton (Darien, Conn.) tallied 12 kills with a remarkable kill percentage of 55 percent and McGrath (Seal Beach, Calif.) led the Bobcats (4-7) with 14 kills on the night.

Junior captain Jacqueline Forney (Bloomington, Ind.) accumulated a match-high 22 assists and senior captain Hannah Tardie (Orange, Calif.) chipped in 13 assists of her own.

Meanwhile first-year Julia Panepinto (Buffalo, N.Y.) came up with 12 digs, as did sophomore Lauren Brough (Killingworth, Conn.).

Naughton tallied a kill right out of the gate for Bates to give the Bobcats an early 1-0 lead in the first set.

Sophomore Reilly Murphy (Marshfield, Mass.) and junior Lisa Slivken (New York, N.Y.) added early kills of their own but the Monks (3-7) took a 6-5 lead on a Shadai Gosselin kill.

Bates responded with a 6-1 run, culminating in back-to-back kills by first-year Taylor Stafford-Smith (Calabasas, Calif.) and Naughton to take an 11-6 lead, forcing Saint Joseph's to call a timeout.

With the Bobcats up 14-9, Naughton added yet another kill to give Bates a six-point lead. McGrath followed with a nice block and a Saint Joseph's attack error made the score 17-9 in favor of the Bobcats.

A McGrath kill and an attack error by the Monks increased the Bates lead to 19-9.

The teams traded points for a bit and the Monks were able to cut into the lead a little bit but a Murphy kill secured the first set victory for the Bobcats.

Bates sprinted out to a 9-1 lead in the second set. The run included back-to-back service aces from Brough and three McGrath kills.

Bates extended the lead to 11-2 before the Monks called timeout.

Out of the timeout, Bates did not slow down and extended the lead to 20-5 on a service ace from first-year Gabi Eustache (New York, N.Y.). Eustache finished the match with five aces overall. The Bobcats closed out the second set by a score of 25-8 behind three more Naughton kills.

Bates fell behind 8-5 early in the third set but the Bobcats rallied to take a 10-8 lead on a kill by McGrath, a kill by Murphy, back-to-back service aces from first-year Jordan Camarillo (Tucson, Ariz.), and another Murphy kill.

The Monks did not go away, coming back to grab a 15-12 lead. Naughton responded with a kill to cut the deficit to 15-13. After McGrath tallied a kill of her own to cut the lead to one, the teams traded points until a Naughton kill tied the match at 19.

With the score tied at 22, Naughton finessed home a kill to give Bates a 23-22 lead. After another Naughton kill, McGrath finished off the Monks by a final count of 25-22.

Saint Joseph's plays at Southern Maine on Thursday at 7:00 PM while Bates resumes NESCAC play this Friday with an 8:00 PM match at Williams College.

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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 474-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.