Southern Maine Splits on Opening Day

            WALTHAM, Mass. -- Junior outside hitter Jess Williamson (Goffstown, N.H.) posted a double-double with 20 kills and 19 digs to help the University of Southern Maine women's volleyball team earn a split in its opening day of play in the 2016 season Saturday at the Brandeis Invitational.

            The Huskies dropped their opening match of the season to Endicott College 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-14, 27-25) before holding off Smith College in four sets (26-24, 25-21, 20-25, 25-21).  Endicott finished the two-day event with a 3-1 record, and Smith went 0-3.

            In the Smith match, the Huskies jumped out to a 2-0 lead as Williamson racked up 12 kills and seven digs in the first two sets.  After the Pioneers took the third set, Williamson and classmate Mo Raymond (Sanbornton, N.H./Winnisquam) combined for 11 kills to lead the Huskies to the decisive set win.

            Senior co-captain Megan Nilson (Granby, Conn.) quarterbacked the Huskies offense dishing out 26 assists and served up three aces.  Sophomore Nicole Schmitz (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham) added 14 assists and five aces, and both players also had nine digs.

            For the Pioneers, rookie Kimani Freeman (Newark, N.J.) just missed a triple-double with 11 kills, nine service aces and nine digs.  Sophomore Maca Rojas (Santiago, Chile) dished out 30 assists and had six kills and nine digs.

            In the opening match, the Huskies took the first set before the Gulls roared back to take the next three for the win.  Senior Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) led the Gulls' offense with 17 kills and a .426 hitting percentage (17-2-36).  Junior Lauren Sheehan (Bainbridge, Wash.) added 10 kills, and sophomore Emma Mancini (Lynnfield, Mass.) knocked down nine kills.

            Southern Maine is right back in action Sunday morning (11:00 a.m.) hosting a tri-match with the University of Maine at Presque Isle and Castleton University.

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