STANDISH, ME - The Saint Joseph's Volleyball team improved to 10-5 overall and 2-0 in GNAC play with a pair of victories over conference opponents Suffolk University and Saint Joseph College (CT) on Saturday afternoon at the Harold Alfond Center. Sarah Hawkes '13 (Pownal, ME) notched 21 kills, 20 digs and 6 blocks and Caitlin Cleary '13 (Scarborough, ME) had 18 kills and 26 digs for the day.

The Monks defeated the Rams of Suffolk University in the opener, 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-19). Hawkes posted her second double-double of the fall with 12 kills and 16 digs and Jordan Pelczar '12 (Meredith, NH) added 10 digs and 6 aces in the triumph. Kiah Begley '13 (Berwick, ME/St. Thomas Aquinas) narrowly missed her second double-double of the year with 21 assists and 9 digs and Samantha Varrell '12 (Portsmouth, NH) chipped in with 12 digs.

Kelsey Armstrong-Hann '10 (Corvallis, OR) led the Rams with 16 digs and 7 kills, while Melissa Griffin '12 (Byfield, MA) had 12 digs and Julie Sullivan '10 (Haverhill, MA) added 14 assists and 8 digs in the loss.

Cleary led the Monks with 13 kills and 19 digs, a team season-high for a four-game match, to collect her second double-double of the year in a 3-1 (25-11, 25-13, 22-25, 25-23) win over Saint Joseph (CT) in the nightcap of the tri-match. Pelczar had 11 kills and 8 digs and Begley added 28 assists and 12 digs to achieve the double-dip.

Brittany Souza '10 (Newington, CT) paced the Blue Jays with 15 kills and 12 digs in the loss. Alina Capatina '13 (El Mirage, AZ) and Katelyn Morency '13 (Vernon, CT) added 13 and 11 digs, respectively, and Jennifer Braun '13 (Bloomfield, CT) chipped in with 21 assists.

The win over the Blue Jays was the first for the SJC volleyball program and gave the team 10 wins, which is one more than the Royal Blue posted in 2008 and the most in a season since 2001. The GNAC tri-match sweep is the team's first in two-plus years as a member of the conference.

St. Joe's will play on the road against non-conference opponent University of Maine-Farmington on Wednesday at 7:00 PM.

St. Joseph's (Me.) def. Suffolk 25-19,25-13,25-19

Suffolk (2-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Kelsey Armstrong 7-0-0;
Melissa Griffin 4-0-1; Kelly Loder 4-1-2; Tanya Fortes 2-1-0; Jennifer
Duston 2-1-0; Hannah Davis 1-0-0; Julie Sullivan 0-2-0; Totals
20-5-2.0. (Assists) - Julie Sullivan 14. (Dig leaders) - Kelsey
Armstrong 16; Melissa Griffin 14; Shoshana Akis 12; Jennifer Duston 8;
Julie Sullivan 8

St. Joseph's (Me.) (9-5) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Sarah Hawkes
12-0-2; Caitlin Cleary 5-3-0; Samantha Varrell 4-3-1; Jordan Pelczar
4-6-1; Leocadya Koziski 3-0-0; Kiah Begley 2-0-0; Totals 30-12-3.0.
(Assists) - Kiah Begley 21. (Dig leaders) - Sarah Hawkes 16; Samantha
Varrell 12; Jordan Pelczar 10; Kiah Begley 9

Site: Standish (Me.) (Harold Alfond Center)


Date: Sep 19, 2009   Attend: 75   Time: 1hr 15m


Referees: Nick Bryant, Rob Arp

St. Joseph's (Me.) def. St. Joseph (CT) 25-11,25-13,22-25,25-23

St. Joseph (CT) (2-6) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Brittany Souza
15-1-5; Michelle DiPinto 8-0-1; Jennifer Braun 4-2-1; Krystal Myers
1-2-0; Katelyn Morency 1-1-0; Ronni Caruso 1-0-0; Alina Capatina
1-0-0; Totals 31-6-6.0. (Assists) - Jennifer Braun 21. (Dig leaders) -
Fransiola Cekolli 14; Alina Capatina 13; Brittany Souza 12; Katelyn
Morency 11; Krystal Myers 8

St. Joseph's (Me.) (10-5) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Caitlin Cleary
13-1-0; Jordan Pelczar 11-1-0; Sarah Hawkes 9-0-4; Samantha Varrell
3-3-0; Kiah Begley 2-5-0; Leocadya Koziski 1-0-0; Kaliopy Hologitas
1-0-0; Totals 40-10-4.0. (Assists) - Kiah Begley 28. (Dig leaders) -
Caitlin Cleary 19; Kiah Begley 12; Kaleigh McHale 12; Jordan Pelczar 8

Site: Standish (Me.) (Harold Alfond Center)


Date: Sep 19, 2009   Attend: 40   Time: 1hr 30m


Referees: Bob Wooten, Rob Arp