Volleyball Stuns USJ in Straight Sets

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Suffolk swept Saint Joseph, 3-0, to open an away tri match at the O'Connell Center. The GNAC victory came via set scores 25-13, 25-23, 25-13.

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Saint Joseph (Conn.) 0 
RECORDS: Suffolk (18-8, 8-1 GNAC) | Saint Joseph (Conn.) (9-13, 2-9 GNAC) 

SET ONE RECAP (25-13, SUFFOLK)

• It was all blue and gold to start the first stanza as Suffolk jumped out to a 10-4 advantage, causing a Blue Jays timeout. 
• The Rams continued to continue to attack out of the break, maintaining a 13-8 lead. 
• Back-to-back kills by Kenzley Bell and Kayla Barbera extended the lead to 15-8, forcing another USJ timeout.
• From there Suffolk went on a 10-5 run to end the set. 

SET TWO RECAP (25-23, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk turned a 2-2 tie into a 5-2 edge. 
• Saint Joseph strung together five consecutive points to take a 7-5 lead. 
• The Blue Jays held a 12-9 advantage at the halfway point. 
• The match remained interesting as the Rams fought back, trimming the Blue Jays lead to 15-16 and forcing a timeout. 
• The conference counterparts went point for point the rest of the way and it landed in Suffolk's favor, 25-23.

SET THREE RECAP (25-13, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk managed to hold an 8-6 edge, which blossomed to a 12-6 lead, forcing a Blue Jays timeout.
• The blue and gold put the stanza out of reach behind a 3-0 run that made it a 19-10 Suffolk set. 
• Back-to-back kills by Barbera and Harmony Johnson pushed the Rams lead to 24-12. 
• The Rams held on the rest of the way to take the set 25-13. 

STATISICALLY SPEAKING

• Suffolk's 37-kill attack was well balanced. 
• Barbera tallied 13 kills behind a .333 connection rate with nine digs and two aces to her credit. 
• Johnson set up the offense with 31 assists. The freshman added five aces to the offense and two digs on defense. 
• Hannah Fabiano contributed eight kills along with six digs. 
• Bell notched four kills, two assists, two aces, nine digs, and two blocks. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk defeated USJ for the fourth straight season to move to 13-4 all-time against the Blue Jays. 
• The win marks Suffolk's 18th of the season, which ties the program record for wins in a year with the 1997 team who went 18-3. 
• Suffolk secured its eighth league win of the year the most for the Rams since matching that number in 2005 (18-3). 
• Johnson hit a personal best five service aces. 

POST-MATCH PIC

COMING UP
Suffolk wraps up the GNAC tri-match this afternoon against Rivier.