September 17, 2011

NEWTON, MA - Saint Joseph's (6-2, 2-0 GNAC) swept a Great Northeast Athletic Conference tri-match with wins over Mount Ida College (5-5, 1-1 GNAC) and Suffolk University (2-9, 0-4 GNAC) on Saturday.

St. Joe's def. Mount Ida, 3-1 (26-28, 27-25, 25-23, 25-14)

The Monks suffered a 28-26 loss to the host Mustangs in the opening set but proceeded to rattle off three consecutive victories to defeat Mount Ida for the first time in program history.

Sarah Hawkes '13 (Pownal, Maine) led all players with 18 kills and added 21 digs and seven block assists in the win and fellow team captain Kiah Begley '13 (Berwick, Maine/St. Thomas Aquinas) dealt a match-high 35 assists with five kills against the Mustangs. 

Begley became the Monks' all-time assists leader during the win over Mount Ida as the junior setter recorded her 1,510th helper in the triumph to surpass Kerri Padgett '04. Begley capped the day with 1,566 career assists in just 69 matches and 238 sets over two-plus seasons. Padgett notched 1,509 helpers in 93 matches and an SJC record 408 sets. 

Sophomore libero Erica Russi (Debary, Fla.) produced 17 digs and three service aces, Emilee Penman '15 (Uncasville, Conn.) added seven kills, Jordan Pelczar '12 (Meredith, N.H.) contributed 19 digs, and Kristin Palladino '14 (Exeter, N.H.) tallied 25 digs, three aces and five kills for the Monks.

St. Joe's def. Suffolk, 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-19)

Saint Joseph's would not settle for a split on this day as the team rolled to a 3-0 win over Suffolk in the nightcap match to collect the second GNAC tri-match sweep in program history.

Hawkes amassed 10 kills and 11 digs - both team-highs - to go with a spectacular .375 attack percentage after making just one error in 24 chances. Begley recorded 31 assists and 10 digs, Palladino added eight kills and 10 digs, Kaela Murphy '15 (Salem, Mass.) contributed seven kills and four aces, and Russi tallied 10 digs, five aces and three kills on the afternoon.

Saint Joseph's will play at Lesley College in a non-conference match slated to begin at 7:00 PM on Thursday evening.