Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 GORHAM, Maine – Freshman Amanda Keppel (Springfield, Pa./Merion Mercy) powered the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 3-1 win over the Maine Maritime Academy Mariners as the Huskies split their tri-match Saturday afternoon at Hill Gym. Southern Maine fell to Eastern Connecticut in a hotly contested five-set match 3-2 (6-25, 25-18, 9-25, 25-22, 12-15) , before bouncing back to down the Mariners (25-22, 25-17, 19-25, 25-22).
With the split, Southern Maine stands at 11-3 on the season and is 0-1 in Little East Conference action. Eastern won both of its matches to improve to 6-7 overall and 1-0 in the LEC. Maine Maritime fell to 6-6 with the pair of losses.
Keppel was a force offensively for USM swinging for a team-high 17 kills with a blazing .342 hitting percentage. Keppel added six service aces and 18 digs. Sophomore Renee Trottier (Biddeford, Maine) and freshman Kristina Rubico (Chelmsford, Mass.) each had seven kills. Rubico added seven digs and a trio of service aces.
Maine Maritime Melissa Lail (Elizabeth, Colo.) had a match-high 18 kills to pace the Mariners with a.343 hitting percentage. Junior Sydney Robertson (Barnstead, N.H.) and freshman Gillian O'Neal (Burbank, Calif./Village Christian) had 12 and 10 kills each.
In the opener against Eastern Connecticut, both teams battled to a 2-2 draw and then played a nip-and-tuck fifth game. Freshman Adrianna Mihalek (Woodbury, Conn./Holy Cross) led the Warriors with 10 kills and nine digs. Senior Nicki Gasch (New Fairfield, Conn.) and freshman Kay Mullen (Fairhaven, Mass.) each had nine kills.
Rubico had eight kills against the Warriors, while Keppel had seven, adding 16 digs.
Southern Maine travels to Husson on Tuesday (7:00 p.m.). Maine Maritime travels to UMaine Presque Isle on Thursday (6:00 p.m.). Eastern Connecticut hosts Keene State and Eastern Nazarene on Saturday (12:00 p.m.).
–cac–
