SAINT JOSEPH’S (ME) SWEEPS WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL, 3-0

BOSTON, Mass. – Senior outside hitter Sarah Hawkes (Pownal, Maine) and freshman middle hitter Felicia Wachowiak (Milton, N.H.) combined for 23 kills to lead the Saint Joseph's College women's volleyball team past Emmanuel College, 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-19), Wednesday evening at the Jean Yawkey Center Gymnasium. With the victory, the Monks improve to 18-5 overall and 7-3 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference while the loss drops the Saints to 10-15 and 4-3 in GNAC play.

The Monks jumped out to the early lead in the opening set, taking a 10-5 lead following a kill by Hawkes but the Saints were able to claw their way back into the action behind the service of sophomore defensive specialist Cara Callahan (Medway, Mass.) who was able to reel off six straight points to give the hosts a 20-18 lead. Two of the points came via the ace for Callahan. The Monks were able to answer as Hawkes got the rally started with a kill. Two Emmanuel errors put Saint Joseph's back on top, 21-20 before sophomore outside hitter Christine Durkee (Salem, Conn.) evened the score at 21-21 with a kill. The two squads traded errors to make it 22-22 before the Monks closed the set with three straight points to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

The second set was all Saint Joseph's as they held Emmanuel to a negative -.087 hitting percentage while accumulating five blocks in the 25-14 win.

The Saints showed signs of life in the final set, keeping the game close early. Freshman middle hitter Brittany Tutalo (Johnston, R.I.) put down a kill to make it 9-9, triggering a SJC timeout. The Monks came out of the timeout strong and never trailed again in the frame en route to the 25-19 win for the 3-0 victory on the match.

Hawkes led the way for Saint Joseph's with 15 digs, 13 kills, five block assists and a .423 hitting clip while Wachowiak was right behind her with 10 kills, two solo blocks and five block assists. Senior setter Kiah Begley (Berwick, Maine) ran the offensive show with 36 assists while also adding 10 digs.

Senior middle hitter Moriah Logan (Halifax, Mass.) was in double-figures with 10 kills for the Saints while freshman setter Shannon Dudley (Arroyo Grande, Calif.) dished out 15 helpers. Senior libero Yun-Ting Lee (Keelung, Taiwan) registered a game-high 17 digs while Callahan was just behind her with 16 digs in the loss.

The Saints will return to action on Saturday, October 20 when they host a GNAC tri-match beginning at 12:00 PM vs. Norwich University with another contest at 4:00 PM against Anna Maria College. The Monks return to the court the same day when they head to Rhode Island College for a non-conference tri-match against the University of Southern Maine at 1:00 PM and a match vs. RIC at 3:00 PM.