STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph's (16-11, 5-5 GNAC) defeated Albertus Magnus (3-14, 0-9 GNAC), 3-0, and was bested by Emmanuel (12-13, 4-4 GNAC), 0-3, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference tri-match at the Harold Alfond Center on Saturday.
The Monks held a lead for virtually the entire match against the Falcons with 25-9, 25-18 and 25-7 victories in the opening contest. Despite playing well at times against the Saints, St. Joe's fell in the nightcap in three straight sets by 19-25, 16-25 and 16-25 deficits.
With a kill in the third set against Emmanuel, Monks' sophomore middle blocker Sarah Hawkes '13 (Pownal, ME) became the third player in program history to reach the 500-mark in career kills. With 503 kills in less than two seasons, she surpasses Kristen Bowes '06 for the #2 spot in in the career category at Saint Joseph's.
Saint Joseph's defeats Albertus Magnus (25-9, 25-18, 25-7)
The Monks held a lead for all but three plays early in the third set on their way to earning a 3-0 victory over the visiting Falcons. St. Joe's posted a stellar .232 attack percentage with 24 kills and 12 errors in the triumph.
Kiah Begley '13 (Berwick, ME/Saint Thomas Aquinas) recorded a match-high 28 assists and added three aces, while Erica Russi '14 (Debary, FL) notched 12 digs, also a match-best, in the SJC victory. Hawkes added eight kills, seven digs and three aces and Kristin Palladino '14 (Exeter, NH) posted eight kills and nine digs. Sarah Coffey '14 (Hanover, MA) chipped in with nine digs and five kills for Saint Joseph's.
The GNAC victory was the fifth of the year for the Monks, which ranks as a new team-high as a fourth-year member of the conference.
Emmanuel defeats Saint Joseph's (25-19, 25-16, 25-16)
A kill by Coffey on the first play of the nightcap match provided the Monks with an early 1-0 lead, but the Saints proceeded to rattle off nine unanswered points with the help of four SJC attack errors. St. Joe's rallied with an 11-5 run and trailed 14-12 after an attack error by Saints libero Yun Ting-Lee '13 (Cambridge, MA), but the Royal Blue failed to close the gap and Emmanuel scored four consecutive points at the tail-end of the set to collect a 25-19 win.
Trailing 14-5 mid-way through the second set, the Monks proceeded to notch four straight points with three consecutive kills and an Emmanuel attack error, but the Saints managed to hold off the hosts again to take a 2-0 lead.
The GNAC rivals battled in the early part of the third set and the Monks cut the Saints' advantage to two points, 12-10, with a Holly Bannister '14 (Cumberland, ME) kill halfway through what would be the final set. A 7-2 Emmanuel run all but dashed the Monks' hopes of forcing a fourth set however, as the Saints went on to blank the crestfallen St. Joe's club, 3-0.
For the Monks, Begley posted a double-double with 21 assists and 10 digs and Hawkes contributed with seven kills and 13 digs. Brooke Dyer '14 (Lebanon, ME/Saint Thomas Aquinas) added six kills and 13 digs and Coffey posted five kills and seven digs in the losing effort.
Saint Joseph's will host Southern Maine at 7:00 PM on Thursday evening in the Monks' 2010 home finale. St. Joe's travels to Rivier College for a conference tri-match against the Raiders and Mount Ida College on Saturday on the final day of the regular season.
