NORTHFIELD, Vt.—The Norwich University volleyball team welcomed the Saints of Emmanuel College and the Monks of Saint Joseph's College of Maine to Andrews Hall for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tri-match on Saturday afternoon.

Emmanuel posted 3-0 wins against Norwich and Saint Joseph's, while the Monks won the final match of the day against Norwich by a score of 3-0.

Emmanuel 3, Norwich 0

In the first match of the day, the Saints downed the Cadets by scores of 25-15, 25-14, and 25-17. The first set was the most competitive, as the two teams battled through five ties and two lead changes in the early points of the game. Emmanuel would eventually prevail on the power of eight kills and 12.1 percent hitting.

The Saints controlled games two and three from the first point. In the third set, Norwich posed a mid-set rally that saw them come within one point at 14-13, but back-to-back kills by Emmaunel's Kaitlyn Atkinson and a service ace by Christine Durkee opened the gap back to four points.

Atkinson paced the Saints with a match-high 11 kills on the strength of 52.6 percent hitting, as she recorded just one error in 15 attempts. Danielle Rose and Cassie Chruscielski both added five kills each for the Saints. Shannon Dudley and Sophie Fish split setting duties for the Saints and totaled 15 and seven assists, respectively. Mellyn Costello led the team defensively with nine digs.

The Cadets saw seven kills from both Tara Lyons (Pocasset, Mass.) and Kelsey Mancini (Lynnfield, Mass.). Corinne Baita (Rochester, N.H.) dished out a team-best 16 assists, while Alex Ruediger (Sandy Lake, Pa.) paced the defense with 11 digs.

Emmanuel totaled a .170 hitting percentage on the afternoon, while holding the Cadets to a .040 hitting percentage. The Saints also served nine aces, while Norwich served just three.

Emmanuel 3, Saint Joseph's 0

In the middle match, Emmanuel won their second of the day by scores of 25-14, 25-22, and 25-18. The majority of the game was played at the net, as the two teams combined for 11 team blocks, led by Emmanuel's Brittany Tutalo with two solo and two assisted blocks and Saint Joseph's Ally Hollander, with four assisted blocks.

All three sets were tightly matched, and the match featured 22 ties and 12 lead changes.

Emmanuel used a combined effort to total 41 team blocks. Shannon Dudley, Sarah Colby and Kaitlyn Atkinson all finished with eight kills apiece, while Cassie Chruscielski added seven. Dudley totaled 26 assists on the afternoon. Cara Callahan paced the Saints defense with 13 digs, while Chruscielski chipped in with 11.

Colby, Chruscielski, and Atkinson all contributed two blocks for the Saints.

The Monks were led by Felicia Wachowiak with seven kills, and Shadia Gosselin with six. Mariah Hebert dished out 17 assists for the Monks, who saw a match-high 14 digs from Abbie McPhee. Erica Russi added 10 digs and recorded two service aces.

Emmanuel hit at an impressive 22.6 percent on the second match of the day, while holding Saint Joseph's to a .010 hitting percentage.

Saint Joseph's 3, Norwich 0

The Monks downed Norwich by scores of 25-21, 25-12, and 25-16 in the final match of the day. The first set was back-and-forth for a majority of the points. The set saw seven ties and five lead changes, and the Cadets had an opportunity to record another tie after Mancini notched a kill to make it 20-19 in favor of the Monks. Back-to-back Norwich attack errors put the set out of reach for the Cadets.

Mancini led the Cadets with 14 kills on the match, while Lyons chipped in with six. Baita dished out 22 assists for the Cadets.

Angie Hershberger (Felton, Calif.) led the Norwich defensive effort with 12 digs, while Baita added 10. Both Lyons and Mancini recorded solo blocks for the Cadets.

The Monks totaled nine team blocks. Felicia Wachowiak totaled three solo blocks and two assisted blocked, while Ally Hollander added one solo block and four assisted blocks. Holly Bannister chipped in with a solo block and two assisted blocks.

The Saint Joseph's defense also saw 11 digs by Abbie McPhee, and 10 digs by Erica Russi. Offensively, the team was led by Wachowiak with 14 kills. Victoria Huntley chipped in with eight. Setter Mariah Hebert dished out 22 assists.

The Monks hit at 23.8 percent over the course of the match while holding Norwich to a negative attack percentage.

Norwich returns to action next weekend when the team travels to Suffolk for a GNAC tri-match against the Rams and Falcons of Albertus Magnus College.  The first match begins at 12:00 p.m.