STANDISH, ME - The 2009 SJC Volleyball team posted a 16-17 overall record and narrowly missed the Great Northeast Athletic Conference playoffs with a 4-8 performance in league play.

An unfortunate five-set loss to Lasell at the Alfond Center on October 3^rd wound up costing the Monks the program's first berth into the GNAC Tournament, as the Lasers went on to earn the #8 seed with a 5-7 conference record. Despite the disappointment of this scenario, there is plenty of optimism when looking toward the future of the volleyball program.

For the Monks, the 16 wins is the most since Head Coach John Razsa, in the final year of his first stint as the St. Joe's leader, guided the Royal Blue to a 20-14 record, and a Maine Athletic Conference title, in 1997.

With the help of the program's first five-game winning streak since the 1995 campaign, the Monks had a 12-6 record after defeating GNAC counterpart Albertus Magnus on September 27^th. The women hit a tough stretch from that point forward, however, partially due to a difficult schedule as well as a lack of depth, since several players were nursing nagging injuries. The Monks lost 10 of their next 12 matches, as difficult opponents dotted the SJC docket. St. Joe's fell to GNAC stalwarts Emerson, Rivier and Simmons, as well as University of New England, Bates and nationally-ranked UMass-Boston during the stretch. The aforementioned game against Lasell also occurred during this time frame.

Saint Joseph's recovered to win two of its last three contests, with victories over Southern Maine and Pine Manor, to close out the year one game shy of the .500 mark.

The promising 2009 squad featured six sophomores and five freshmen, with no juniors or seniors. Four first-year players logged large amounts of playing time, as Sarah Hawkes (Pownal, ME), Caitlin Cleary (Scarborough, ME), Kiah Begley '13 (Berwick, ME/St. Thomas Aquinas) and Leocadya Koziski (Peabody, MA) all played in at least 105 of the team's 110 total sets.

Sophomores Samantha Varrell (Portsmouth, NH) and Jordan Pelczar (Meredith, NH) also played pivotal roles for the Monks. Fellow second-years Karen King (Scarborough, ME), Kaleigh McHale (Dracut, MA) and Kaliopy Hologitas (Rockland, MA) will be looked upon to provide depth and leadership next fall.

Overall, the 2009 team set an astonishing 35 team-season, team-game, individual-game, and individual-season and career records. As a team, the Monks shattered the previous season marks for kills (942), kills per set (8.6), total attempts (3177), assists (858), assists per set (7.8), fewest serve errors (224), digs (1475) and digs per set (13.4).

Hawkes enjoyed the finest season posted by an SJC volleyball player in recent memory. The first-year middle blocker accounted for 12 total records in her first year as a Monk, including single-season marks for kills (325), attack percentage (.285) and total blocks (76). For her efforts, Hawkes netted three GNAC Rookie of the Week awards and was listed on the GNAC Honor Roll three times.

Begley also notched an excellent season for Saint Joseph's, having set new season marks for assists (703) and assists per set (7.8). Cleary led the team with 291 digs, the second-highest campaign total in team history, tied for the lead with Begley in aces with 60, and ranked second on the club in kills (213). With at least 200 digs apiece, Hawkes, Begley and Cleary became the first trio in program history to top the 200-plateau in a single season. Begley and Cleary both received GNAC Rookie of the Week and GNAC Honor Roll acclaim during the 2009 season.

Coach Razsa and his staff is expected to continue the trend of adding talented newcomers to the fold and, with an accomplished group returning, it's not much of a leap to predict that the Monks will be in the thick of the GNAC playoff hunt next fall.

Front (L-R): Kaleigh McHale, Samantha Varrell, Leocadya Koziski, Kiah Begley, Kaliopy Hologitas, Katherine Melanson, Caitlin Cleary Back (L-R): Asst. Coach Kelly Champagne, Head Athletic Trainer Rick Burrill, Asst. Athletic Trainer Tiffany Miller-Gagnon, Sarah Hawkes, Karen King, Lauren Barresi, Jordan Pelczar, Asst. Coach Yamile Nolan, Student Asst. Nicole Gagnon, Asst. Coach Sherry Conover, Head Coach John Razsa Not pictured: Asst. Coaches Andy Pohl & James Wilberg, Statistician Amanda Ruel ‘09