July 16, 2012

STANDISH, ME - The 2012 Saint Joseph's college volleyball schedule has been posted. The Monks are slated to play 29 matches this fall, with a docket that includes 12 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) events and 17 non-league games.

St. Joe's, 35-26 (.574) over the last two years under the watch of Head Coach Yamile Nolan, advanced to the GNAC playoffs for the second-consecutive season last fall. The sixth-seeded Monks suffered a season-ending 3-1 loss at the hands of #3 Emmanuel College in a GNAC Tournament quarterfinal match in early November, but look to make a push for the conference title this fall with help of a solid returning group.

The 29-match schedule features 11 home games, as St. Joe's faces Anna Maria, Bates, Framingham State, Husson, Lesley, Lyndon State, Maine-Farmington, Rivier, and University of New England at the Harold Alfond Center this fall. The Monks will play seven tri-matches and will again host the SJC Autumn Invitational Tournament, with Bates, Husson, and Lyndon State coming to Standish for the two-day tourney in early September.

Overall, Saint Joseph's will play 25 different opponents in 2012; a group that combined to post a 322-361 (.471) record in 2011. The Monks are 94-181 (.342) versus this selection of teams since the start of the 1991 campaign but went 16-11 (.593) against the group last fall.

The 2012 campaign begins with two matches at Maine Maritime Academy on Saturday, September 1st. The Monks face off against Southern Maine at 1:30 PM before taking on the host-Mariners at 3:00 PM.

Next on the docket is the 2012 SJC Autumn Invitational Tournament, which starts at 6:00 PM on Friday, September 7th when Bates and Saint Joseph's square off on Court 1 and Husson faces Lyndon State on Court 2. Play continues later that evening when St. Joe's plays Husson on Court 1 and Bates takes on Lyndon State on Court 2. The two-day tourney concludes the following day, as the Monks battle Lyndon State on Court 1 and Bates plays Husson on Court 2, with both matches set to start at 10:00 AM. Tournament championship and consolation matches will be played at 1:00 PM.

The Monks then travel to Biddeford for a single match versus University of New England on September 13th before returning home to host a tri-match two days later, when GNAC foe Anna Maria and non-conference opponent Framingham State come to town. Saint Joseph's plays Lesley at home in an 8:00 PM start on Thursday, September 20th and hosts conference-rival Rivier two days later.

Four days after playing a non-conference match at Daniel Webster on September 25th, the Monks travel to Suffolk for a GNAC tri-match versus the host-Rams and Lasell College. St. Joe's hosts Maine-Farmington on October 4th and returns to the road two days later to play Albertus Magnus and Johnson & Wales in a conference tri-match in Providence.

Saint Joseph's hosts Husson on Wednesday, October 10th at 7:00 PM and does not return to the Alfond Center for nearly two weeks. During this spell, the Monks play Simmons and Saint Joseph (CT) in a GNAC tri in West Hartford, Conn. on October 13th, battle Maine-Farmington on October 15th, travel to Emmanuel on October 17th, and participate in a non-conference tri-match against Southern Maine and Rhode Island College in Providence on October 20th.

The Monks host University of New England at 6:00 PM on Monday, October 22nd in the team's 2012 regular-season home finale and hit the road again to play at Gordon College three days later. St. Joe's takes on Emerson and Norwich in a GNAC tri-match on October 27th to close out the regular season.

The GNAC Tournament begins with a quarterfinal round on Tuesday, October 30th and continues with the semifinals to be played on Thursday, November 1st. The conference championship takes place on Saturday, November 3rd and the GNAC Champion advances to the NCAA Tournament, which begins on Thursday, November 8th.

Saint Joseph's went 18-12 overall and 7-6 in GNAC play under the watch of Coach Nolan last fall. Prior to 2011, the Monks had not won as many as 18 games since 1997 and last year's .600 winning percentage ranks as the program's highest since the 1995 campaign.