Standish, ME - The Saint Joseph's College volleyball squad opened the season with a 1-1 start in the SJC Autumn Invitational. The Monks dropped their first match 3-0 to Lyndon State, but rebounded quickly to defeat Maine-Presque Isle 3-0 in their second match of the evening.

Maine-Machias used strong serving to power past Maine Presque Isle 3-0 (30-18, 30-8 and 30-27) and defeated Lyndon State 3-1 (30-25, 30-27, 25-30, 30-15)

SJC vs. Lyndon State

The Monks fell 3-0 to Lyndon State in the 6 PM match-up on court one. The Hornets jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but FY Mary Hoyt (Rochester, NH) used a powerful serve to make it 6-5. Lyndon pulled away again, but SR captain Brooke Perry (Biddeford, ME) kept St. Joe's in the game. Two aces by FY Rachel Bassett (Narragansett, RI) closed the gap to one point, 25-24 but the Hornets took the game 30-25.

In game two, St. Joe's took advantage of strong play by SO captain Monique Lajoie (Nashua, NH), superb setting by SO Marcie Gowen (Plymouth, NH) and back-to-back service aces by Hoyt. Bassett and Perry dominated at the net and evened the score at 15 before a Lyndon rally proved too much and St. Joe's fell 30-26.

The teams traded points in game three but the Hornets pulled away, making it 14-10 after several strong serves. The Monks went down 19-13 and took a timeout to regroup, but Lyndon continued to stretch the lead to 25-15. St. Joe's made a run behind Hoyt's serving and the score stood at 26-23 but the Hornets took the final game 30-23.

SJC vs. Maine Presque Isle

The SJC team continued to come together in their second match of the evening cruising by Presque Isle 3-0. The Monks took a 7-2 lead and Lajoie and Perry connected several times to go up 14-8. The Owls fought back and brought the score to 17-16, but Hoyt answered with two aces and St. Joe's took the game 30-25 after an ace by JR Amanda Ruel (Biddeford, ME).

Strong team play helped the Monks take game two, 30-19 and Lajoie and Perry continued to shine.

Gowan started game three with an ace, but the lead changed several times with St. Joe's eventually holding a five point lead. The Owls closed to within a point, 24-23, but Bassett put the Monks up by three and St. Joe's closed out the match winning game three 31-29.