DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- The University of Southern Maine women's volleyball team split two matches Saturday defeating the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth 3-0 (25-8, 25-19, 25-20) in a Little East Conference match before dropping a 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-14) non-conference decision to Connecticut College at UMD's Tripp Athletic Center.

            The split leaves the Huskies with an 18-7 overall record, and 2-3 mark in conference play, heading into the final week of the regular season.  Conn. College also defeated UMass Dartmouth 3-0 to improve its overall mark to 13-8.  With the two losses, UMD now stands 10-15 overall and 0-5 in the Little East Conference.

            Against the Corsairs, the Huskies had their second best hitting day of the season converting for a .360 hitting percentage (41-10-86).  USM took the opening set hitting 14 kills without an error on 26 attempts.  The Huskies were nearly as good in the third set getting 14 kills with one error on 29 attacks.

            Senior Jess Williamson (Goffstown, N.H.) paced the Huskies offense knocking down 16 kills with a .412 hitting percentage (16-2-34).  Rookie Jamie Jannarone (Windham, Maine) had six kills on nine attacks, and junior setter Nicole Schmitz (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham) had five kills on eight attacks without an error and dished out 33 assists.  Senior Mariah Garcia (Brighton, Colo./Central) had a match-high 15 digs.

            Sophomore Nicole Silverman (Chelmsford, Mass.) and rookie Alivia Connors (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) led the Corsairs with 11 and 10 kills respectively.  Sophomore Jordan Rittberger (Huntington, N.Y./Harborfields) had 25 assists, and sophomore Jillian Sykora (Waterford, Conn.) dug up 11 balls.

            In their second match against Conn. College, the Huskies jumped out to a big lead in the first set before the Camels hit their stride and rallied for a 25-23 win.  The Camels controlled the play throughout the final two sets for the victory.

            Williamson had 12 kills and eight digs for the Huskies.  Senior Mo Raymond (Sanbornton, N.H./Winnisquam) added six kills and six digs.  The Huskies struggled with their attack hitting for a .065 percentage.  Schmitz had 19 assists, and Garcia had a team-high 10 digs.

            Rookie Emma Hewlin (San Jose, Calif.) had a big match for the Camels knocking home 17 kills on a .600 hitting percentage (17-2-25).  Junior Maddie Rust (Austin, Texas) had nine kills and senior Sam Hunter (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) added eight as the Camels compiled a team hitting percentage of .351.

            Sophomore setter Grace McGee (Portland, Ore.) directed the Camel's attack with 35 assists, and rookie Elle Kass (Los Gatos, Calif.) had a match-high 11 digs.

            Southern Maine is back in action on Tuesday (6:00 p.m.) hosting LEC leader University of Massachusetts Boston.  UMD travels to Rhode Island College on Tuesday (7:00 p.m.).  Conn. College host Tufts University next Friday (7:00 p.m.).

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