St. Joseph's Downs Southern Maine 3-0

            STANDISH, Maine -- Senior Felicia Wachowiak (Milton, N.H./Nute) had 14 kills and three solo blocks as the Saint Joseph's College Monks defeated the visiting University of Southern Maine Huskies 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-20) in a non-conference volleyball match Thursday night at the Harold Alfond Center.

            The win was the third straight for the Monks, and gave them a sweep of the teams' home-and-home regular-season series.  The Monks are now 18-1 overall.  The Huskies dropped their second straight match to fall to 8-12 overall.

            Saint Joseph's overcame a five-point deficit (13-8) in the opening set on the strength of an 11-2 run en route to winning the set.  In the second set, the Monks again overcame a sizable Huskies lead (21-14), and won the final four points to take a 2-0 lead.  USM rallied from an early 8-1 deficit in the third set to forge a 12-12 tie.  However, SJC again put together an 11-2 run to take a 23-14 lead, then held off a furious comeback bid by USM.

            For Saint Joseph's, junior Victoria Huntley (Ellsworth, Maine) added nine kills and dug up 14 balls, and junior Shadai Gosselin (Somersworth, N.H.) had six kills and 12 digs for the Monks.  Junior setter Mariah Hebert (Biddeford, Maine) posted a double-double with 27 assists and 10 digs.  Rookie libero Janelle Thompson (Farmington, N.H.) had a match-high 28 digs.

            Sophomore Jess Williamson (Goffstown, N.H.) had another double-double for the Huskies posting 10 kills and digging up 18 balls.  Senior libero Demi Ruder (Grand Junction, Colo.) had a team-high 22 digs.  Rookie Nicole Schmitz (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham) and junior Megan Nilson (Granby, Conn.) combined for 18 assists.

            Southern Maine is back in action this Saturday (11:00 a.m.) playing a non-conference tri-match at the University of New England.  USM opens the proceedings playing host UNE, and then taking on Maine Maritime Academy.  Saint Joseph's will host a non-conference tri-match on Saturday (11:00 a.m.) against Framingham State University and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

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