STANDISH, Maine - Bolstered by the play of senior front liners Ivana Batur (Zagreb, Croatia) and April Byllaardt (Stormville, N.Y.), Norwich University earned a pair of key late-season Great Northeast Athletic Conference wins on Oct. 22.

The Cadets, improving to 13-9 overall and 7-5 in league play, won in four games over St. Joseph's College of Connecticut and then took a five-game thriller from the host Monks inside the Harold Elfond Center on St. Joseph's College of Maine's campus. The two victories moved NU into fifth place on the GNAC standings.

Batur finished the day with 33 kills, a .256 attack percentage, five service aces, and 11 blocks of which eight were solos. Byllaardt ended with 23 kills and seven blocks. More impressive numbers from coach Amanda Cuiffo's team came from junior right side hitter Gabrielle Miller (Grove City, Ohio) who had 38 assists and four service aces, freshman setter/right side hitter Corinne Baita (Rochester, N.H.) who finished with 27 assists and a team-best 46 digs and senior outside hitter Brittany Palmer (York, Pa.) who ended the day with the team lead in service aces (six).

Norwich returns home to end the regular season with three in a row at Andrews Gymnasium. The Cadets host in-state foe Castleton State at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, and then Anna Maria and Regis visit for a tri-match Saturday, Oct. 28.

NOTES: Byllaardt, behind 27 kills in three matches, became just the second player in NU history to join the 600-career-kill club during the week. She goes into the final week of the regular season only five service aces shy of becoming the program's all-time leader. … Batur, with 40 kills in the same span, became the fifth Maroon and Gold player to have 200-or-more in a season.