STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph's (4-1) lost in a marathon volleyball match to Rhode Island College (2-4), 3-2, (25-16, 24-26, 23-25, 31-29, 9-15) at the Harold Alfond Center on Wednesday evening.
The Monks, behind a solid .344 attack percentage with 13 kills and just two errors, handed the visiting Anchormen a 25-16 loss in the opening set but faltered in the following two sets by four points combined to fall behind 2-1.
St. Joe's was able to stave off defeat, temporarily, with an impressive 31-29 victory in the fourth set when the teams combined to register 135 total attacks and 78 digs. The epic set featured 15 tie scores and nine lead changes and the match between the non-conference foes, which lasted two hours and 15 minutes, had 45 deadlocks and 18 lead changes overall.
For Saint Joseph's, the 31 points scored in the fourth set versus the Anchormen was the most since the squad fell to Norwich University in the second set by a 38-36 score on September 13th, 2008.
Sarah Hawkes '13 (Pownal, Maine) led the Monks with 12 kills, 29 digs and four solo blocks and Kiah Begley '13 (Berwick, Maine/St. Thomas Aquinas) notched seven kills, 38 assists and 23 digs in defeat. Kristin Palladino '14 (Exeter, N.H.) added 10 kills and 20 digs, Emilee Penman '15 (Uncasville, Conn.) contributed nine kills and six digs, and Erica Russi '14 (Debary, Fla.) notched a team-high five service aces with 22 digs on the night.
For Rhode Island College, Breanna Boyer '13 (West Greenwich, R.I.) belted a match-high 17 kills with 24 digs and Amanda Cabral '14 (Riverside, R.I.) posted 16 kills and 20 digs for the visitors. Junior setter Jessica Ho (Providence, R.I.) dealt a match-best 45 assists with 22 digs while Harley Mitchell '14 (North Smithfield, R.I.) registered a team-high 30 digs for the Anchormen.
Saint Joseph's will spring back into action on Thursday night with a non-conference match at University of New England in a 7:00 PM start while Rhode Island will play at Keene State with Westfield State on Saturday in a tri-match beginning at 12:00 PM.
