Wachowiak & Thompson Honored by ECAC

STANDISH, Maine – The Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) weekly regional accolades have been announced and two Saint Joseph’s College women’s volleyball players have earned honors.

Senior middle blocker Felicia Wachowiak (Milton, N.H.) and freshman libero Jennelle Thompson (Farmington, N.H.) have been selected as the ECAC DIII New England Offensive and Defensive Players of the week, respectively.

Wachowiak posted 42 kills - with just four errors - and an outstanding .514 attack percentage and 11 total blocks in three victories. On Saturday, she produced 15 kills with no miscues in 20 attempts in a 3-0 win over University of Saint Joseph and followed up with 20 kills and five block solos to help the Monks remain undefeated (14-0) with a 3-1 victory over Maine-Fort Kent.

Thompson posted 78 digs and a 7.80 digs per set average in three victories for the Monks last week. On Saturday, the first-year libero broke the Monks' four-set digs record with 41 in a 3-1 triumph over Maine-Fort Kent and tallied 15 digs in a victory over GNAC-rival University of Saint Joseph. She added 22 digs in a 3-0 victory over Daniel Webster College on Thursday.

Wachowiak currently leads the conference in kills (176), kills per set (3.45), hitting percentage (.368), block solos (39), total blocks (58), blocks per set (1.14), points (224.5) and points per set (4.4). On Tuesday night, she belted 13 kills against Husson University and broke the Monks’ career kills record, surpassing former teammate Sarah Hawkes ’13, who notched 1,107 kills over four seasons at St. Joe’s.

For Wachowiak, who was also chosen as the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, the ECAC weekly award is the third of her career. She earned the same honor on September 30th, 2013 and October 27th, 2014.

Thompson currently leads the conference by a wide margin in both total digs (293) and digs per set (5.75). Named as the GNAC Defensive Player and Rookie of the Week on Monday, Thompson has now earned ECAC DIII New England Rookie of the Week acclaim twice this fall.

Saint Joseph’s (15-0, 3-0 GNAC), which remains as one of just two undefeated NCAA DIII women’s volleyball programs (Roanoke is the other), travels to Worcester on Friday to face WPI in a 7:30 PM start.

Wachowiak Breaks SJC Career Kills Record‏

STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph’s College senior middle blocker Felicia Wachowiak (Milton, N.H.) broke the Monks’ career kills record in a 3-0 victory at Husson University on Tuesday night.
Sitting on 1,100 kills and needing eight to surpass former teammate Sarah Hawkes ’13, Wachowiak broke the former mark (1,107) early in the second set with a kill off a Mariah Hebert (Biddeford, Maine) assist to lift the Monks to a 9-3 lead.

Wachowiak totaled 13 kills in the sweep over the Eagles and closed out the evening with 1,113 strikes over 376 career sets - 20 fewer than Hawkes played during her four seasons at Saint Joseph’s. Wachowiak also surpassed the mark in 293 fewer attempts than Hawkes, who remains as the only player in program history to notch 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.

The three-time All-Conference honoree is the Monks’ career leader by a wide margin in block solos (253), block assists (145) and total blocks (398) and is closing in on the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) career total blocks mark (421), which is held by Amanda Dennis, a 2009 graduate of Pine Manor College.

Wachowiak is in the midst of her finest collegiate campaign, with GNAC-leading marks in kills per set (3.45), kills (176), hitting percentage (.368), blocks per set (1.14), solo blocks (39), total blocks (58), points (224.5) and points per set (4.4). For her efforts, she has collected six weekly honors already this fall, with three Offensive Player and three Defensive Player of the Week awards to her credit.

She also owns the SJC single-season records for attack percentage (.318, 2012), block solos (103, 2014), block assists (54, 2012), total blocks (141, 2014) and blocks per set (1.21) and is on pace to surpass several of the these marks this fall.

Adding to her impressive list of team records, the four-year starter has eclipsed multiple single-match marks as well, including attack percentage (.812), total blocks (13), block solos (10), block assists (8), four-set kills (24) and four-set points (28).

In her NCAA career, Wachowiak has claimed an astounding 26 accolades, including a pair of First Team All-GNAC awards, two ECAC DIII New England Player of the Week honors, and 15 GNAC weekly honors.

Saint Joseph’s (15-0, 3-0 GNAC), one of just three undefeated women’s volleyball programs in all of NCAA DIII, will travel to WPI for a 7:30 PM non-conference match on Friday evening.