STANDISH, Maine – University of Southern Maine (4-4) tipped Saint Joseph's College (0-6), 3-1 (25-15, 19-25, 26-24, 25-19), in a non-conference women's volleyball match at the Harold Alfond Center on Thursday evening.

THE LEAD

After suffering a 25-15 setback in the first set, the Monks put forth their best effort of the season with a .458 attack percentage in a 25-19 second-set victory, evening the match at 1-1. The third set features six lead changes and seven tie scores before the Huskies posted a pair of kills to take a 26-24 win and a 2-1 match lead.

Southern Maine held an 18-10 lead in the fourth set after rattling off eight-unanswered points, but Saint Joseph's put up a fight with a 7-3 run and trailed 21-17 after sophomore Madison Provencher (Rochester, N.H.) delivered a service ace. As it played out, the Huskies proceeded to win the set, and the match, with the help of four unforced SJC errors.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Junior Kelsey Bickford (Somersworth, N.H.) notched a match-high 15 kills – with just two errors – on 33 attempts for a .394 attack percentage
• Sophomore Sophia Randall (Epping, N.H.) boasted 37 assists and five digs
• Senior Jennelle Thompson (Rochester, N.H.) produced a match-high 25 digs
• Freshman Sarah Quinn (Dover, N.H.) dealt eight kills with four digs
• Sophomore Erin Olson (Stoughton, Mass.) chipped in with seven kills and a pair of block assists

LEADERS – SOUTHERN MAINE:

• Sophomore Kacey Foerster (Scarborough, Maine) tallied 13 kills and four digs
• Senior Nicole Schmitz (St. Paul, Minn.) recorded 27 assists, five digs, three kills, and a pair of aces
• Sophomore Kristina Odom (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) added 12 digs
• Megan Gettings (Bristol, Conn.), Kylee Austin (Saco, Maine), Jamie Jannarone (Windham, Maine), and Alexis Dow (Miami, Fla.) contributed eight kills apiece

TEAM STATS

Southern Maine held the lead in kills (48-42), attack rate (.270-.241), and assists (45-41) while Saint Joseph's posted advantages in aces (8-5) and digs (53) on the evening. The Huskies committed a total of 35 errors while the Monks tallied 45 miscues, including 12 service errors, in the loss.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 17-19 (since 1989) versus University of Southern Maine and has now dropped four-consecutive matches at the hands of the Huskies.

NEXT!

The Monks are back in action Saturday with a pair of games at University of Saint Joseph, as they face the Blue Jays in their conference opener at 12:00 PM and take on non-conference foe Mitchell College at 2:00 PM.

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