PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Juniors Lex Bowers (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) and Shannon Howland (Delmar, N.Y.) teamed up to lead Plymouth State University to a 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-13) sweep of Saint Joseph's College (Maine) in a non-conference women's volleyball match at Foley Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

Bowers led the Panthers with seven kills without an error (7-0-21) and matched a team-high with nine digs, while Howland led all players with 20 assists and four aces.

Plymouth State improves to 4-1 on the year, while the Monks drop to 0-4.

The Basics:

Plymouth State 3, Saint Joseph's (Maine) 0

Plymouth State 4-1

Saint Joseph's (Maine) 0-4

How it Happened:

The game remained tight through the early stages of the first set until the Panthers' block earned three straight points for a 13-8 lead. After trading side outs, PSU ran four more points behind a pair of aces by Howland to push the margin to 18-9 and the Panthers cruised from there.

PSU used an early 5-1 burst in set two to take a 9-5 lead that would hold up for the duration. Plymouth took advantage of a string of Monks' errors to push the lead to 23-14 and capped the second set win with a booming kill from senior Ari Linden (Lena, Ill.) and missed serve.

Saint Joseph's came out aggressive to start the third set, building an early 3-0 lead behind a pair of kills and a Panther error. PSU rallied behind the strong blocking of Linden and junior Allie Rogers (Sandown, N.H.) to pull in front, 9-4, and the Monks wouldn't get closer than four points the rest of the way.

Inside the Numbers:

• PSU limited the Monks to an .023 attack percentage while hitting .256 themselves, including .333 in the third set.
• Linden matched a career high with six blocks and added five kills and five digs.
• Howland's four aces give her 20 for the season. She's averaging a ridiculous 1.25 per set, good enough for top-30 in the country.
• Senior Jennelle Thompson (Rochester, N.H.) was all over the place for the Monks, posting a match-high 23 digs.
• Classmate Sarah Dyer (Seabrook, N.H.) posted a double-double for SJC, finishing with 13 assists and 10 digs.
• PSU improves to 15-2 all-time against Saint Joseph's. Each of the last 11 match-ups have been decided in three sets, with the Monks last winning in 2015.

Up Next:

• PSU opens play at the Granite State Challenge with a pair of matches on Friday (Sept. 7) at New England College. The Panthers will face Elmira College at 6:00 p.m. before meeting the host Pilgrims at 8:00 p.m.
• St. Joe's is off until Saturday (Sept. 8) when they travel to Wentworth Institute of Technology for a 12:00 p.m. game.

COURTESY OF PLYMOUTH STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

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