GORHAM, Maine -- The University of Southern Maine women's tennis opened Little East Conference play Sunday afternoon falling to Plymouth State University 9-0 at the Gorham High School Courts.

            The match was the season opener for the visiting Panthers.  The Huskies dropped their second straight match to slip to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in LEC action.

            The Panthers opened the match taking all three doubles points in convincing fashion.  The Jakubas sisters, Zara and Sunny (Califon, N.J./Voorhees), combined to take the number one doubles match 8-1 over the USM duo of junior Sarah Hill (Topsham, Maine/Mt. Ararat) and sophomore Katie Quinn (Hollis, Maine/Bonny Eagle).  The PSU combination of sophomore Nikki Lund (Hingham, Mass.) and junior Nitsa Ioannides (El Cajon, Calif.) also posted an 8-1 win at number double doubles.

            Zara Jakubas came back in singles play to defeat Hill in straight sets at the top of the ladder while Sunny Jakubas defeated USM junior Courtney Aldrich (Lewiston, Maine) in straight sets at number two.  The Panthers won all six singles matches in straight sets to complete the shutout.

            Southern Maine is off until Saturday (1:00 p.m.) when it travels to Providence, R.I., to take on LEC preseason favorite Rhode Island College.  Plymouth State will host a non-conference match on Wednesday (3:30 p.m.) against Colby-Sawyer College at the Holderness School.

-ble-