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(Courtesy of UMass Boston Sports Information)

            BOSTON -- Junior middle hitter Molly Rattigan (Dorchester, Mass.) was perfect on the night with nine kills in nine attacks to lead the University of Massachusetts Boston Beacons women's volleyball team over visiting University of Southern Maine Huskies, 25-9, 25-10, 25-6, Tuesday evening in a Little East Conference match at the Clark Athletic Center.

            The Beacons, who received 32 votes in the most recent Division III American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll, win their seventh straight match to improve to 14-1 overall and 3-0 in LEC play.  The Huskies fell to 3-14 and 0-3.

Rattigan hit 1.000 for the match and added two total blocks for the Beacons, while sophomore middle hitter Shannon Thompson (Moorpark, Calif.) hit a torrid .769 for the match with 11 kills and just one error in 13 attempts to go along with two solo blocks.  Freshman outside hitter Corrine Porter (Huntington Beach, Calif.) put down nine kills in 13 attempts with one error for a .615 hitting mark in just two sets.  Sophomore Frana Burtness-Adams (Fairbanks, Alaska) and junior Cassy Hanneman (Denver, Colo.) combined for eight aces and 29 assists, including 16 assists from Hanneman.  Freshman libero Christine Dupuis (Minden, Nev.) led the defense with a career-high nine digs and senior libero Michelle Cawley (Canton, Mass.) chipped in with six digs and three aces.

            A trio of Southern Maine players finished with a pair of kills led by senior outside hitter Shannon Shuttle's (New Ipswich, N.H.), who added four digs, and senior right side hitter Danielle Netland (Cumberland, Maine) contributing a team-high five digs.  Freshman middle hitter Meghan Rumore (Manchester, N.H.) had two kills as well in addition to a pair of digs.  Junior Hallie Noah (Anchorage, Alaska) directed the offense with nine assists.

            UMass Boston, which owned a scorching .508 hitting percentage for the match, raced out to a 15-2 advantage in the first set, including 10 straight points on the service of Burtness-Adams.  The Beacons increased their lead to 19-3, before coming away with a 25-9 opening set win. 

            The Beacons owned an early 5-1 lead in the middle frame, but Southern Maine reeled off five straight points during Shuttle's service to give the visitors a 6-5 lead.  It would be the Huskies' only lead of the night as the Beacons scored the next three points, and later owned a 15-10 margin.  UMB ran off 10 unanswered points on the service Hanneman to take the set, 25-10.

            UMass Boston took a commanding 12-3 lead in the final set, including seven straight points during Burtness-Adams' serve, and closed out the match on a 6-0 run on the service of Cawley to win the set, 25-6, and the match.

            Southern Maine travels to Wenham, Mass., to take on Gordon College and Wellesley College on Saturday (4:00 p.m.).  UMass Boston will be in action again on Friday (6:00 p.m.) when it hosts Kean University at the Clark Athletic Center.

At Boston            1            2            3            Final

Southern Maine (3-14, 0-3 LEC)            9            10            6            0

UMass Boston (14-1, 3-0 LEC)            25            25            25            3