Volleyball Becomes Winningest Team in Program History in Five-Set Win Over SJC

BOSTON – The 2019 Suffolk volleyball team secured its spot a top of the Rams' all-time wins list as the blue-and-gold put together a thrilling five-set decision over Saint Joseph's (Maine) Saturday afternoon at the Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court. The historic regular-season triumph came via set scores 29-27, 25-15, 21-25, 21-25 and 15-11.   

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Saint Joseph's (Maine) 2
RECORDS: Suffolk (19-11, 9-3 GNAC) | Saint Joseph's (Maine) (8-21, 5-7 GNAC)  

SET ONE RECAP (29-27, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk's early 6-1 edge was cut down to 9-7. 
• The blue-and-gold clung to the lead until the Monks rattled off a 5-1 run to gain 14-12 advantage. 
• The Rams responded with a 5-1 stretch of its own to go back ahead 17-15. 
• See-saw action ensued with two more swaps of the lead, first SJC went ahead 20-19, before things turned in Suffolk's favor, 23-21.
• The tightly contested contest remained down the stretch when things evened at 24-all. From there it came down to who scored back-to-back and the frame fell in the Rams' favor.  

SET TWO RECAP (25-15, SUFFOLK)

• From an 11-11 tie, the Rams rallied around Dakhensey Marcellus at the service line to go up, 22-13. 
• Suffolk put on cruise control from there clinch the stanza, 25-15.  

SET THREE RECAP (21-25, ST. JOSEPH'S (MAINE))

• Suffolk trailed 12-4. 
• The Rams attempted a comeback with a 6-2 spurt that put the blue-and-gold within six, 16-10. 
• It was point-for-point the rest of the way, ending in the Monks' favor, 25-1.  

SET FOUR RECAP (21-25, ST. JOSEPH'S (MAINE))

• St. Joe's grabbed a 13-10 lead that blossomed into a 19-13 cushion. 
• Suffolk played catchup and trimmed the distance to three, 23-20. 
• The early edge played out in SJC's favor as the team's exchanged points before Sarah Quinn secured the set for the visitors.   

SET FIVE RECAP (15-11, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk took care of business as it jumped ahead 8-3 before the rivals switched sides. 
• The opening advantage was all the blue-and-gold needed as it maintained the margin despite a handful of comeback attempts from the visitors, who pulled within three, twice, the last coming with match point set up, 14-11. 
• An attack error by Hanna Holden locked up the thrilling decision for the Rams.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Kayla Barbera produced a double-double effort with 15 kills and 11 digs to lead the way. 
• Harmony Johnson had an offensive, defensive double-double as well with 35 helpers and 17 digs to go along with a pair of aces and one kill. 
• Kenzley Bell registered a double-double as well with a 12-assist and 12-dig effort.  
• Kaleigh Khanna and Sarah Mullahy provided 12 kills and 11 kills, respectively. 
• Dakhensey Marcellus anchored the defense with 22 digs and provided eight assists, four aces and one kill to the offense. 
• Hannah Fabiano chipped in 10 digs, nine kills, one set-up and one block.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk notched its 19th victory of the season, which marks the most in a single season in program history, displacing the previous mark set by the 1997 squad, who went 18-3. 
• The Rams secured its ninth league win of the year, the most for the Rams since joining the GNAC ranks since 1996. 
• Khanna grabbed a career-high 12 kills. 
• Bell tallied her third collegiate double-double, first since Oct. 1, 2019. 
• Barbera had her 10th collegiate double-double, fifth of the season. 
• Johnson, who had a personal-best 17 digs, produced her fifth collegiate double-double.  

POST-MATCH PIC
 

COMING UP
Suffolk awaits the official seeding of the 2019 GNAC Tournament.