ST. PAULS — Alyssa Monroe missed her junior season of volleyball with a knee injury. Thursday night against Fairmont, the knee brace she still wears was the only remaining evidence of that agony.

The senior outside hitter had a big night for St. Pauls, leading the Bulldogs to a 3-0 win over the Golden Tornadoes.

“It’s really like a confidence thing, just trying to get back into things and having a lot of trust in your knee and stuff,” Monroe said. “So it feels really good to be able to do the things I used to do, and some things better.”

Monroe had seven aces, seven kills and 11 digs for the Bulldogs (4-8, 3-0 Southeastern Athletic Conference).

“Alyssa brings a powerhouse as an outside (hitter) for us; she has a really good swing and she’s also very good in coverage, so we can count on her to help in defense as well as finding the floor,” St. Pauls coach Glenda Lowery said.

“I picked the weakest passer and just tried to spot them every time, that’s it,” Monroe said.

St. Pauls built a 16-7 lead over Fairmont (0-11, 0-3 Southeastern) in the first set, and led by no less than seven points for the rest of the set en route to a 25-17 win.

The Bulldogs led from start to finish again in the second set; they took a 4-0 lead, then after the Golden Tornadoes closed to 7-6, St. Pauls outscored Fairmont 18-6 the rest of the set to win 25-12.

“They started with good energy and they maintained that energy for the most part,” Lowery said. “They didn’t start goofing off, they didn’t start getting down, they didn’t start overestimating themselves and feeling like they didn’t have to work as hard, and they worked as hard from the beginning to the end.”

The third set was more evenly played, with six lead changes throughout the set. Fairmont took a 17-15 lead after scoring five straight points, but the Bulldogs answered with their own 7-2 spurt to go up 22-19. Fairmont got back within a point at 22-21 before the Bulldogs scored the next three points to win the set 25-21 and seal the match victory.

“The intensity, playing with that intensity that you played with in the third set, you’ve got to start in that first set, and I think the intensity and the wanting it more is really what helped us to stay with them and compete,” Fairmont coach Kaitlyn Hunt said. “I think we played with them, they just had great hitters. We’re in a growing process, just developing and still growing every day.”

Jessica McNair had four kills and four digs for St. Pauls, Zykendria Cox had nine assists with two digs and 15 service points, Madison Philipps had eight assists, KeMya Baldwin had 12 digs and Miley Hyatt had six digs.

Kersten Hunt had five kills and two digs for Fairmont, Kensley Newberry also had five digs, Alexis Brown had three kills and six digs and Paityn Branch had seven assists.

Since losing its first seven games of the season, St. Pauls has won four of its last five games including its first three conference contests. The Bulldogs host Whiteville in nonconference play on Monday before resuming its Southeastern slate Tuesday at Clinton.

“We were kind of just having to keep gelling as we went along and the girls were getting comfortable with each other, getting used to having me as their coach,” Lowery said. “I think they’re finally starting to get where they trust each other, they’re working together well and that’s been what’s making the difference.”

Fairmont continues to seek its first win of the season as the Golden Tornadoes play a home conference match Tuesday against West Bladen.

“As long as these girls keep working and bring intensity, I feel like we’re going to get it, but I’m just motivating them to tell them to keep their heads up,” Hunt said. “Because it’s going to come, we’ve just got to be ready for it, on God’s time I guess.”