Southern Maine Sweeps UNE and Maine Maritime

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- The University of Southern Maine women's volleyball team swept a pair of matches Saturday defeating the University of New England 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 20-25, 25-19) and Maine Maritime Academy 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-17).  The matches were held at the Harold Alfond Forum on the UNE campus.

            The two wins lift the Huskies' overall record to 10-12.  UNE came back later in the day to defeat Maine Maritime 3-0 (25-22, 35-33, 25-17) and is now 5-10.  Maine Maritime dropped to 10-9 with the two losses.

            Junior Megan Nilson (Granby, Conn.) surpassed a milestone in the Maine Maritime match
becoming the second player in school history to reach 2,000 assists.

            In the opening match, the Huskies used a run of eight consecutive points to overtake the Nor'easters and win the first set.  In the second set, the Huskies rallied from a six-point deficit (12-6) to take a four-point lead (20-16) en route to going up 2-0.

            The Huskies race out to a big lead in the third set, but it would be the Nor'easters turn to stage a comeback outscoring the Huskies 20-6 to take the set.  The final set was nip-and-tuck until the Huskies went on an 8-1 to pull out the set, and the match.

            For USM, sophomore Jess Williamson (Goffstown, N.H.) posted a double-double with 16 kills and 19 digs.  Classmate Mo Raymond (Sanbornton, N.H.) added 12 kills.  Nilson had 21 assists, and rookie Nicole Schmitz (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham) passed out 17.  Schmitz just missed a double-double digging up nine balls.

            Junior Erika Sawicki (Wilbraham, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) led UNE with 13 kills, and junior Grayson Szczepaniak (Lakewood, Ohio/Saint Joseph Academy) and sophomore Courtney Lambrese (Cranston, R.I./Cranston West) had 10 kills apiece.  Sophomore setter Brooke Gibbons (Miami, Fla.) had 33 assists, and rookie Brittany Morrison (Rosemount, Minn.) led the Nor'easters with 11 digs.

            Against the Mariners, the Huskies jumped out to big early leads in the first two sets and cruised to a 2-0 lead.  USM overcame an early MMA lead (6-4) in the third set on the strength of a 7-1 run to take the lead, and finally put the set away on a pair of kills by Williamson.

            Williamson had 14 kills on 19 attacks without an error (.737 attack percentage), and sophomore middle hitter Robbi Termentozzi (Grand Junction, Colo.) chipped in eight kills.  Nilson and Schmitz each had 14 assists, and senior libero Demi Ruder (Grand Junction, Colo.) had a match-high 17 digs.

            Junior outside hitter Gillian O'Neal (Burbank, Calif./Village Christian) was the Mariners main offensive threat pounding down 19 kills.  Senior Molly Marcotte (Woonsocket, R.I./Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical) had 26 assists, and senior Jessica Menges (Old Forge, N.Y./Town of Webb) dug up 13 balls.

            Southern Maine returns to its home court on Tuesday (7:00 p.m.) hosting the University of Massachusetts Boston in a Little East Conference match.  UNE will travel to Milton, Mass., on Tuesday (6:00 p.m.) for a Commonwealth Coast Conference match at Curry College.  MMA hosts Unity College on Wednesday (7:00 p.m.).