GORHAM, Maine – The University of Southern Maine Huskies volleyball team snapped a 31-match losing streak with a 3-0 win (25-12, 25-15, 25-11) over the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Buccaneers in a home-opening tri-match also including Curry College at Hill Gymnasium in Gorham Saturday.  In its first match of the day, USM fell to Curry College 3-2.  Curry defeated Massachusetts Maritime in the second match of the day 3-0. 

            The win was the first for the Huskies since they defeated Pine Manor 3-2 (22-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-17, 15-13) on September 23, 2010, and was the first win for head coach Tom Gardner since taking over the program in 2011. The Huskies win drought spanned the last five matches of 2010, all of 2011, and the first four matches of 2012. 

            With the win, USM improves its record to 1-4. MMA drops to 0-3 with its two losses. Curry College remains undefeated at 5-0.

            Three players contributed six kills to help pace USM past Massachusetts Maritime. Junior outside hitter Annie Mitchell (Gorham, Maine) tallied six kills, five digs, four aces and one block solo to lead USM. Junior outside hitter Madalyn Terry (Kennebunkport, Maine/Kennebunk) added six kills, three aces, one dig, and one block assist, and freshman middle blocker Kelsey Abramson (Deerfield, Mass./Frontier Regional) chipped in with six kills and one block solo. Freshman libero Demi Ruder (Clifton, CO/Central) recorded team-highs in aces (8) and digs (7) to go along with two kills, and freshman defensive specialist Bridget Burns (Warrenville, IL/Wheaton Warrenville South) had a team-high 24 assists.

            Senior outside hitter Alex Burgess-Chrost (Leominster, Mass.), junior defensive specialist Michaela Garrity (Tiverton, RI/St. Mary Academy-Bay View), sophomore setter Deb Langley (Abington, MA/South Shore Voke), and freshman middle hitter Emily Calnan (Hingham, Mass.) each had two kills to pace the Buccaneers, and Burgess-Chrost turned in a team-high four digs.

            In the first match of the day, the Huskies jumped out to a 2-0 set lead (25-22, 25-20) over Curry, but the Colonels came back to win three straight sets 25-19, 25-18, 15-11 to win the match 3-2.

            Sophomore outside hitter Courtney DiBiasio (Coventry, RI) notched a team-high 15 kills to go along with six digs and one ace to lead Curry. Freshman middle hitter Brittany Lynch (Randolph, Mass./Blue Hills Regional) added 14 kills of her own and four digs, and sophomore setter Hannah Robison (Cumberland, RI) finished with an impressive 34 assists.

            Abramson led the way for the Huskies with 13 kills and four aces, and Burns had 23 assists and five aces of her own.

            Curry defeated Mass. Maritime 3-0 (25-15, 25-9, 25-11) in the second match of the day, headlined by senior middle hitter Kendra LeMay's (Chicopee, MA/Holyoke Catholic) nine kills and three digs. Sophomore middle hitter Tiana Sturtze (Worcester, Mass./Doherty) had seven kills, DiBiasio added five kills and five digs, and Robison turned in a team-high 12 assists. 

Southern Maine returns to action tomorrow when they host a tri-match against University of Maine Machias (11:00) and Becker College (3:00).

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