STANDISH, ME - Saint Joseph's College Volleyball Head Coach John Razsa has announced the 2008 team awards. Following the 08 campaign, the coaching staff selects recipients for four honors: Best at the Net, Most Improved, Best All-Around and the Coaches Award.

Katie Boccanelli ‘12 (Cottonwood, AL) has received the 2008 Best at the Net award after leading the Lady Monks with 204 kills and 62 total blocks in her freshman campaign. Her blocks total ranks as the most in the last ten seasons, while her kills output ranks as the fifth-highest during the same span.

The Most Improved Player honor goes to Karen King ‘12 (Scarborough, ME). She played in all but one set in her rookie season and posted 77 kills and 14 total blocks. She showed progress throughout the season and is expected to play a bigger role next year.

Samantha Varrell ‘12 (Portsmouth, NH) takes home the Best All-Around Player award after leading St. Joe's in six statistical categories in 2008. She averaged 4.53 assists per set, the highest average in the last ten seasons for St. Joe's, and posted the second-most assists in a single-season with 462. She also led the Lady Monks with 226 digs. Varrell collected GNAC Volleyball Rookie of the Week honors on two occasions and was listed on the conference Honor Roll four times in ‘08.

The 2008 Coaches Award goes to Jordan Pelczar ‘12 (Meredith, NH). The freshman had 119 kills, 44 assists, 41 aces and 179 digs in ‘08 and was listed on the GNAC Honor Roll on September 29th after helping lead the Lady Monks to a 3-0 week with 20 kills and 40 digs.

With eight contributing freshman on the roster, Saint Joseph's was 9-23 overall and 2-11 in GNAC play in 2008. With heavy recruiting efforts and certain improvement from this year's rookie class, look for the Lady Monks to contend for a spot in the conference playoffs in 2009.