STANDISH, Maine – #3 Saint Joseph's College (18–12, 11–2 GNAC) punched its ticket to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Semifinals with a 3–1 (20–25, 25–18, 25–23, 25–18) victory over #6 Simmons University (10–18, 8–5 GNAC) on Tuesday evening at the Harold Alfond Center.

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:

With the win, Saint Joseph's advances to the semifinal round for the third consecutive season and will face #2 Lasell University— which swept #7 Colby-Sawyer College, 3–0, in other quarterfinal action Tuesday evening—on Thursday at 6:00 PM. For Simmons, the loss marks the end of the 2025 campaign.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

After dropping the opening set 25–20, the Monks regrouped and controlled the remainder of the match with a poised, efficient, and balanced offensive effort. Saint Joseph's hit .214 as a team while holding Simmons to a .091 rate and limiting the Sharks to a combined .000 hitting percentage in sets two and four.

Simmons capitalized on early SJC miscues to claim the first frame, but the Monks quickly flipped the script in the second, opening with a 7–2 surge behind freshman Emily Mendelson (Springboro, Ohio) at the service line. Saint Joseph's maintained at least a two-point cushion the rest of the way and evened the match with a convincing 25–18 win.

The pivotal third set was a tightly contested battle featuring nine ties and four lead changes. Trailing 22–21 late, the Monks took advantage of three straight Simmons errors before Kylie Giakoumis (Middletown, N.Y.) sealed the 25–23 victory with a decisive kill, giving the hosts a 2–1 match advantage.

In the fourth, Simmons jumped out to a quick 4–0 lead courtesy of three SJC errors, but the Monks responded with a commanding 10–3 run highlighted by back-to-back kills from Victoria Briones (El Paso, Texas). The Sharks battled back within one at 15–14, but Saint Joseph's closed strong, ending the set on a 10–4 surge capped by three Briones kills and a Mia Gorham (North Andover, Mass.) spike to secure a 25–18 set win and the 3–1 match triumph.

TEAM STATS:

Saint Joseph's hit .214 as a team (55 kills, 25 errors, 140 attempts) compared to Simmons' .091 (37–24–143). The Monks also held advantages in digs (68–54) and assists (51–34).

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Larisa Comolli (Jr., Nashua, N.H.): 12 kills, .579 attack %, 2 block assists
• Victoria Briones (El Paso, Texas): 12 kills, .276 attack %, 15 digs
• Emily Mendelson (Fr., Springboro, Ohio): 10 kills, .467 attack %, 2 service aces, 3 block assists
• Kylie Giakoumis (So., Middletown, N.Y.): 7 kills, .467 attack %, 5 digs
• Nadia Sixto (Sr., Chattanooga, Tenn.): 6 kills, .150 attack %
• Greta Mackintosh (Jr., Plymouth, Mass.): 5 kills, 5 digs, 4 total blocks
• Maddie Garrett (Fr., Euless, Texas): 26 assists, 11 digs
• Riley Greenley (So., Newark, Del.): 19 assists, 6 digs
• Sabrina Arcilla (Jr., Rivervale, N.J.): 11 digs, 3 assists

LEADERS – SIMMONS:

• Hannah Pridgeon (Jr., Winter Garden, Fla.): 17 kills, .318 attack %, 14 digs
• Iliana Diaz (Sr., Staten Island, N.Y.): 8 kills, 5 total blocks
• Keagan Serverius (Fr., Tampa, Fla.): 18 assists, 3 service aces, 7 digs
• Abby Sousa (Sr., Seekonk, Mass.): 14 assists
• Carolina Rodriguez (Jr., Carolina, Puerto Rico): 18 digs
• Kate Petrosso (Sr., Attleboro, Mass.): 3 kills, 3 service aces, 3 digs, 2 total blocks

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

Saint Joseph's is now 9–13 all-time versus Simmons, a team the Monks also defeated by a 3–1 score in a GNAC tri-match at Colby-Sawyer on Saturday. Tonight's contest marked the program's first home GNAC Tournament match at the Harold Alfond Center since 2015, when the Monks topped Simmons in five sets to earn the first conference tournament victory in program history.