STANDISH, ME – #4 Saint Joseph's College (19-11, 7-4 GNAC) will host #5 Simmons College (10-24, 7-4 GNAC) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Volleyball Tournament quarterfinal at the Harold Alfond Center on Tuesday at 7:00 PM.
Saint Joseph's, now in year seven as a member of the GNAC, hosted a GNAC Tournament contest for the first time last fall and have particpated in the confernece playoffs in each of the last three seasons, but are still in search of the program's first GNAC tourney triumph.
The winner of the Tuesday's quarterfinal at the Alfond Center will face the winner of the #8 Norwich University/#1 Rivier University GNAC quarterfinal in a semifinal match on Thursday evening. The higher seed hosts throughout tournament play.
The last time we met:
Saint Joseph's hosted Simmons, along with Suffolk University - in a conference tri-match and the team's first GNAC contests of the season - at the Alfond Center on Saturday, September 21st. The Monks rolled past the Sharks with a 3-0 shutout victory that afternoon and later topped Suffolk by a 3-1 margin to improve to 10-2 overall and 2-0 in league play.
Freshman Victoria Huntley (Ellsworth, Maine) led all players with 11 kills and added 11 digs in a breakout performance versus the Sharks and sophomore Felicia Wachowiak (Milton, N.H.) tallied eight kills and six block solos in the three-set triumph. Freshman setter Mariah Hebert (Biddeford, Maine) contributed 26 assists and nine digs and freshman Shadai Gosselin (Somersworth, N.H.) also played well with five kills and nine digs in the conference win.
Freshman setter Morgan Kieon (North Attleboro, Mass.) paced the Sharks with seven kills and added seven digs in the loss to Saint Joseph's. Sophomore Nicole Alberghini (Northborough, Mass.) chipped in with five kills and sophomore libero Alexandria Itasaka (Bradford, Mass.) recorded a match-high 16 digs in the losing bid.
What have you done lately?
The Monks closed out the regular season with a 3-0 loss at Johnson & Wales University, which heads into the GNAC Tournament as the #3 seed, in Providence on Saturday. Wachowiak was a bright spot with eight kills in 18 attempts and Hebert produced 16 assists and seven digs in the loss.
Simmons capped the season with a non-conference tri-match split at Tufts University on Saturday. The Sharks defeated Colby College, 3-2, but fell to the host-Jumbos by a 3-0 margin in the nightcap.
Senior Megan Chamberlin (Milford, Mass.) led the Sharks with 10 kills while first-year Andalyn Duke (Litchfield Park, Ariz.) recorded nine kills, 18 assists and 12 digs and freshman Abby Hart (Westfield, Mass.) posted nine kills and five total blocks in the victory over Colby. Senior Rossi Fish (North Attleboro, Mass.) paced Simmons with seven kills in the shutout loss to Tufts.
Historically speaking:
Saint Joseph's is 4-3 in the history of the matchup with Simmons College and has defeated the Sharks in consecutive meetings for the first time in the series versus the Sharks, which began when the Monks joined the GNAC in 2007. The Monks' shutout victory over the Sharks in September counts as the first goose-egg effort recorded by the Royal Blue in the short history of the head to head matchup.
Who to watch:
Wachowiak is enjoying a monster season and leads the conference in points (395), total blocks (95) and block solos (63) and also ranks third in the GNAC in kills (309) and hitting percentage (.294). Huntley has provided major contributions in her first season, adding 174 kills and 219 digs as an all-around player, and Gosselin leads the team in aces (48) with 140 kills and 259 digs this fall. Hebert has capably run the SJC offense all season and ranks among the conference leaders with 692 assists and also has 180 digs and 41 aces to her credit as a rookie.
Simmons features a well-balanced attack, as six different players have notched at least 90 kills for the Sharks this season. Alberghini leads the way with 223 kills while Chamberlin (180 kills) and Fish (165) can also cause damage at the net. Freshman Kat Guillotte (New Bedford, Mass.) has 111 kills along with 322 digs, Kieon boasts 99 kills and 180 digs and Hart has tallied 93 kills and a team-high 43 total blocks for the Sharks.
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
