Volleyball Sweeps Pine Manor on Senior Night

WEST HARTFORD, Conn – The University of Saint Joseph volleyball team swept the Pine Manor College Gators, 3-0, behind a match-high nine kills from senior Hannah Lemek (Bristol, Conn.) in a non-conference showdown on Senior Night inside the O'Connell Center on Thursday evening. The straight set victory came by set scores of 25-11, 25-16, and 25-12. 

THE BASICS

Score: University of Saint Joseph - 3, Pine Manor College – 0
Records: USJ (5-18) | PMC (9-15)
Location: West Hartford, Conn. – O'Connell Center
Date: Thursday, October 26, 2017 

SET ONE RECAP (25-11, USJ)

• The Blue Jays broke a 4-all tie with a 6-2 run and would never trail again in the opening set.
• After back-to-back points by Pine Manor to make it 10-8, USJ scored five straight points capped by three service aces from sophomore Brenna Miller (McCleary, Wash.).
• The Blue Jays would allow just three more points over the remainder of the set and added four more service aces to claim the opener, 25-11.
• A huge solo block by Lemek setup set point and sophomore Lauren Pelletier (South Windsor, Conn.) ended it with an ace.

SET TWO RECAP (25-16, USJ)

• Pine Manor built an early 5-4 edge fueled by a pair of kills from senior Kendra Williams (San Diego, Calif.).
• USJ would answer with an 8-0 outburst to take a 12-5 lead and would never trail again.
• Junior Janell Molina (Honolulu, Hawaii) flipped the momentum with five consecutive service aces during the run.
• PMC would pull within 14-10 after a USJ attack error, but that would be as close as they would get for the remainder of the set as the Blue Jays went up 2-0 with a 25-16 set victory.

SET THREE RECAP (25-12, USJ)

• The third and final set was all Blue Jays as they raced out to an 11-1 lead off the serve of freshman Carlie Gonzalez (Los Fresnos, Texas).
• USJ would build its lead to 22-12 after the ninth kill of the match from Lemek and use a 4-0 spurt to close out the set, 25-12, and the match, 3-0. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Lemek led the USJ offensive attack with a match-high nine kills.
• Sophomore Jasmine Buckley (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) chipped in with six kills and a pair of service aces to go along with a team-high six digs.
• Molina posted a career-high and match-high seven service aces.
• Miller facilitated the offense with a match-high 16 assists.
• Williams paced the Gators with a team-high seven kills and added five digs.
• The Blue Jays posted a .206 hitting percentage as a team compared to -.169 for Pine Manor.
• USJ logged 18 service aces on the night.
• The victory snaps an 11-match skid for the Blue Jays.

UP NEXT

The USJ volleyball team returns to the court next on Saturday at home as they conclude the regular season with a GNAC tri-match against Simmons and Suffolk. The Blue Jays will first take on Simmons at 11 a.m. before hosting Suffolk at 3 p.m. Pine Manor will host Fisher College next Tuesday night at 7 p.m. for their final match of the 2017 slate.