Golden Eagle Volleyball
Heading Back To NCAA Tournament

Kings Point, NY - St. Joseph's senior Marissa Wein (Medford, N.Y.) put down a match-high 26 kills and added 18 digs in the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament final Saturday afternoon at Liebertz Gymnasium, as the third-seeded Golden Eagles (21-9) won back-to-back Skyline titles for the first time in school history with a 3-1 (30-28, 29-31, 30-23, 30-28) defeat of host and top-seeded Kings Point (15-14).

With the victory, head coach Sean Holden's St. Joseph's squad receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, and pairings for that tournament will be announced Sunday (Nov. 9) evening.

The Golden Eagles advanced to the finals by defeating two-seed Mt. St. Mary earlier in the day, 3-0 (30-17, 30-23, 30-25), while the homestanding Mariners played a marathon match to start off the day, and defeated fourth-seeded Farmingdale State, 3-2 (24-30, 30-17, 30-28, 26-30, 21-19).

Wein, a Second Team All-Skyline performer, put down 38 kills and added 29 digs in her two matches of the day. Her teammate, senior First Team All-Skyline member Nichole Hassett (West Sayville, N.Y.), had 12 kills in each match and raked in 16 digs against Kings Point. Freshman setter Christina Auth (East Patchogue, N.Y.) had 25 of her 42 assists against the Mariners, and also had a team-high 24 digs in the final contest.

For head coach James Wilroy's Kings Point squad, it marked the end of three illustrious careers. Outside hitter Jessica France (Fairview Park, Ohio/Magnificat), middle blocker Jena Jeffries (West Columbia, S.C./Airport) and setter Maggie O'Connor (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) will not play volleyball for the Blue and Gray again. But as evidence by the five-match war against Farmingdale State in the semi-finals and losing by two points in two of the three game-losses to St. Joseph's, these players did not go down without a fight.

Of France's tourney-high 45 kills, 22 came in the final match against the Golden Eagles, as well as 29 of her 44 digs on the day. Just recently named the Skyline Conference Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season, France ends her KP career as the only player to break both the 1,000-kills (1,230 - second all-time) and 1,000-digs (1,107 - second all-time) barriers. Additionally, with her 268 service aces in 308 career games at KP, her .879 service aces per-game average ranks sixth all-time in NCAA Division III (discounting any players who may join this list after the 2003 season).

O'Connor, a First Team All-Skyline choice, put up a tournament-high 101 assists in her nine games Saturday afternoon, with 49 coming in the four-game defeat to the Golden Eagles. She leaves Kings Point with 2,798 assists - 148 more than previous record-holder A.J. Peer (1997-00) accumulated during her time in the Blue and Gray. Also, O'Connor's amazing setting day gives her 948 helpers on the season, which broke Peer's single-season record of 946, set in 2000.

Jeffries, who received All-Skyline recognition two years ago, notched 15 kills and 24 digs in her final pair of college volleyball matches, including 16 digs against the fourth-seeded Rams in the opening contest of the day.

Sophomore outside hitter Holly Cummings (Alexandria, Ind./Alexandria) picked up a team-high 55 digs Saturday afternoon, including a school-record 34 against St. Joseph's. Offensively, she put down 29 kills, which included the match-clinching point against Farmingdale State in the extra-play, game-five finish.

For Mt. St. Mary (13-12), head coach Mike Strano's squad suffered a tremendous blow in the second game against the Golden Eagles when First Team All-Skyline outside hitter Kristie Murphy (Slate Hill, N.Y.) went down with a leg injury. Katie Mayer (Wappinger Falls, N.Y.) and Jen Flynn (Bristol, Conn.) added six kills apiece, while Melissa Anghelone (Belford, N.J.) dug a team-high 12 balls defensively.

Head coach Irma Munoz' Farmingdale State Rams (20-13) were paced by Gina Moscato's (Hicksville, N.Y.) 19 kills against the Mariners, while Nicole Tassone (East Patchogue, N.Y.) added 17 points on attacks. Jackie Murray (Farmingville, N.Y.) led the defensive effort of the Rams with a match-high 26 digs.

(Story courtesy of Tom Emberley - SID, USMMA)

For more information on the St. Joseph's College Athletic Program, contact Frank Flandina, Sports Information Director, at (631) 447–3352 or