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            GORHAM, Maine -- The University of Southern Maine Huskies women's volleyball team dropped a pair of matches falling 3-0 to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Corsairs and the Worcester State University Lancers Saturday afternoon at Hill Gymnasium.

            UMass Dartmouth cruised to its 10th straight win with a 25-9, 25-6, 25-21 victory over the Huskies in the teams' Little East Conference opener.  Worcester State downed USM in a non-conference match, 25-11, 25-18, 25-22.

            With the two losses, Southern Maine falls to 2-9 overall.  UMass Dartmouth, which also defeated Worcester State 3-0, ended the day 11-0 and 1-0 Little East.  Worcester State ended the day with a record of 5-8. 

            In the first game, UMass Dartmouth charged out of the gates will all pistons firing en route to the quick 3-0 victory.  Junior outside hitter Allie Mastrocola (Swansea, Mass./Case) led the Corsairs with eight kills, while senior outside hitter Lauren Safioleas (New Bedford, Mass.) added seven kills.  Sophomore setter Jessica Goncalves (New Bedford, Mass.) had a match-high 12 assists.

            Senior outside hitter Shannon Shuttle (New Ipswich, N.H./Mascenic Regional) led USM with four kills, three assists and three digs.

            Worcester State relied on a solid performance from sophomore outside hitter Becky Lebel (Millbury, Mass./Blackstone Valley Tech) en route to its 3-0 victory. Lebel was perfect on the attack with nine kills and no errors on 16 attempts for a solid .562 hitting percentage.  Freshman setter Shawna Strazzere (Billerica, Mass.) quarterbacked the Lancer attack with a match-high 22 assists.

            Freshman middle hitter Meghan Rumore (Manchester, N.H./Manchester West) led USM with six kills.  Junior outside hitter Hallie Noah (Anchorage, Alaska) chipped in with four kills, 22 assists, five service aces and two digs.

            Southern Maine returns to action on Friday (6:00 p.m.) when it hosts the University of Maine Fort Kent.  UMass Dartmouth travels to Plymouth State University on Saturday (12:00 p.m.), and Worcester State hosts Bay Path College on Tuesday (6:00 p.m.).

At Gorham, Maine            1            2            3            Final

UMass Dartmouth (10-0, 1-0 LEC)            25            25            25            3

Southern Maine (2-8, 0-1 LEC)            9            6            21            0

Match Two            1            2            3            Final

Worcester State (5-8)            25            25            25            3

Southern Maine (2-9)            11            18            22            0