PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Berthiaume '24

STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (1-1) defeated the University of Southern Maine (0-2), 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-19) in a Coastal Maine Classic Tournament match on Mike McDevitt Court at the Harold Alfond Center on Saturday morning.

FIRST SET (SJC, 25-20)

Trailing 11-7 midway through the opening frame, Saint Joseph's mounted a 7-1 run that featured aces from freshmen Jessica Christman (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Tamya Johnson (Boston, Mass.) and kills off Maggie Sylvester (Barrington, N.H.) and Nadia Sixto (Chattanooga, Tenn.) swings to stake the Royal Blue to a 14-12 cushion.

USM maintained a slim deficit and did not trail by more than three points until late when a Sylvester kill lifted SJC to a 23-19 lead. After a Huskies service error made it a 24-19 score, Sixto punctuated her team's first set win of the year with a decisive kill.

SECOND SET (SJC, 25-21)

Southern Maine sophomore Drew Johnson gave the Huskies an early 1-0 lead with a kill off a Madison Zimmer pass, but the Monks proceeded to net six unanswered points off a Sixto kill and a pair of Victoria Briones (El Paso, Texas) service aces.

St. Joe's managed to hold at least a share of the lead for the remainder of the second set and, leading 21-20, notched a 4-1 burst to close out the penultimate frame with a Christman ace to claim a 2-0 match lead.

THIRD SET (SJC, 25-19)

The in-state rivals played through six ties and three lead changes in what proved to be the final set. With the score tied 13-13, St. Joe's registered a 7-1 outbreak with five points coming off Husky attack errors to secure a 20-14 advantage.

USM was able to cut the deficit to three points (21-18), but SJC cruised to the 25-19 set triumph and 3-0 match win with the help of kills from Hanna Webster (Alvin, Texas) and Kailyn Chamberlin (Milford, N.H.).

TEAM STATS:

Saint Joseph's held the lead in kills (35-32), attack percentage (.160 / .066), service aces (8-4), and blocks (7-3) while Southern Maine posted a 79-75 edge in digs. Both teams dealt 31 assists.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Sixto paced the Monks with nine kills on a .258 attack rate with four digs and a block solo
• Freshman Larisa Comolli (Nashua, N.H.) registered a .500 attack percentage with eight kills – and just on error – on 14 attempts
• Sylvester added six kills and seven digs with four total blocks
• Briones recorded three kills, three aces, and 17 digs
• Chamberlin delivered 17 assists and 10 digs
• Christman posted four aces and 13 digs
• Johnson notched 11 assists and three digs

LEADERS – SOUTHERN MAINE:

• Brianna Delloiacono tallied 10 kills and 22 digs
• Johnson added nine kills and three digs
• Isabella Smith chipped in with six kills and 12 digs
• Cassidy Weiher dealt 23 assists with nine digs and three kills
• Amelia Beatty belted three service aces with 10 digs
• Sierra Castonguay added 20 digs

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the win Saint Joseph's improves to 21-24 (since 1996) versus University of Southern Maine and has now defeated the Huskies in three-consecutive meetings. The three-game win streak is the longest against USM since SJC posted a 10-game string versus the Huskies that spanned five seasons and ended in 2014.

Today's triumph was the Monks' first shutout win over the Huskies since October 8th, 2015.

UNE def. SJC, 3-0

FIRST SET (UNE, 25-21)

The Monks and Nor'easters stood at a 6-6 stalemate early in the opening set, but UNE later posted a 6-0 run to claim some breathing distance and a 16-10 lead. St. Joe's cut the deficit to 20-17 with the help of six UNE miscues and a Sylvester kill before the Nor'easters closed out the victory on a Kendall Gallaugher kill and two SJC errors.

SECOND SET (UNE, 25-17)

Briones helped the hosts kick off the second frame on a hot streak with three-consecutive service aces as SJC held a 6-1 early advantage. Leading 10-5 later in the set, the Monks saw the lead dissipate and then some as the Nor'easters mounted a 15-4 surge en route to the eight-point triumph. Viktoria Pavlyuk delivered four kills during the outbreak and seven overall – on nine attempts with no errors - in the second set.

THIRD SET (UNE, 25-15)

UNE opened the third set on a 10-3 roll and maintained the lead throughout the final frame. Saint Joseph's showed some mettle late with six unanswered points to cut the deficit down to 22-15, but the Nor'easters clinched the shutout victory after a trio of SJC miscues.

TEAM STATS:

University of New England held the lead in kills (35-27), attack percentage (.237 / .039), assists (33-27), aces (9-7), and digs (49-45) while the Monks posted a 5-4 edge in total blocks in the setback.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Briones put up seven kills, four aces, and 11 digs
• Webster registered a .600 attack rate with six kills and no errors on 10 bids
• Sylvester added seven kills and six digs
• Freshman Sabrina Arcilla (Rivervale, N.J.) chipped in with two service aces and 13 digs
• Chamberlin delivered 15 assists and Johnson added 11 helpers
• Sixto contributed three kills and three total blocks

LEADERS – UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND:

• Pavlyuk notched 11 kills with no errors in 18 attempts for a .611 attack rate
• Ellijah Hanley recorded eight kills, two aces, and a pair of digs
• Arden Caley notched seven kills and four digs
• Kassidy Bradshaw posted two kills, four aces, 21 assists, and 10 digs
• Addie Miller chipped in with 16 digs and four assists

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the loss Saint Joseph's falls to 5-34 (since 1990) versus the University of New England, a team the Monks edged by a 3-2 score in the last meeting between the in-state rivals (9/15/22).

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's will host Colby College on Wednesday at 7:00 PM.