FRANKLIN, Mass. – October 14, 2022 – The Dean College women's volleyball team fell to Saint Joseph's College of Maine, 3-1, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match Friday evening to kick off homecoming weekend. The Monks won by scores of 25-19, 25-17, 23-25 and 25-12.
Dean (3-19, 1-7 GNAC) hits the road on Monday for a non-conference match at Framingham State with a 7:15 p.m. first serve. Saint Joseph's (8-15, 2-4 GNAC) plays a conference tri-match tomorrow hosted by Albertus Magnus with Anna Maria.
Sophomore
Emily Ball (Feeding Hills, Mass.) led Dean with six kills. First-year
Caitlin Cooper (Amherst, N.H.) contributed five kills and a couple of solo blocks. Senior
Mandi Payne (Millis, Mass.) picked up a team best 13 digs, while sophomore
Lena Muraski (Manchester, Conn.) finished with 10 digs and four kills. Junior setter
Bella Driscoll (Plymouth, Mass.) tallied 18 assists and 10 digs.
The Monks received a match best 12 kills from sophomore Maggie Sylvester (Barrington, N.H.). Freshman Nadia Sixto (Chattanooga, Tenn.) was next on the team with eight kills. Senior setter posted match-highs of 26 assists, 13 digs and four aces.
Saint Joseph's began the match on a 6-1 run and later led 19-11. Dean put up a fight by scoring the next five points, but the visitors hung on for the 25-19 victory. Sixto had four kills for the Monks.
The early stages of the second frame were back and forth with eight ties and three lead changes. Saint Joseph's held a 16-15 lead when they rattled off five consecutive points to create separation and cruise to the 25-17 victory. Sylvester had six of the Monks' 13 kills in the set.
Sari Albury (Nassau, Bahamas) and Ball each had a couple of kills for the Bulldogs.
The third set was hotly contested with 16 ties and seven lead changes. Trailing 20-19, Dean went on a 4-0 spurt, capped by a Payne kill, to take a 23-20 lead. Saint Joseph's responded with the next three points, including a couple of kills by Sylvester, to pull even at 23-23. The Bulldogs scored the next to points to secure the 25-23 victory and extend the match.
Saint Joseph's turned things around with a strong attack in the fourth set. The Monks hit .304 as a team and cruised to the 25-12 win. Freshman Victoria Briones (El Paso, Texas) had five kills for Saint Joseph's.
