Southern Maine Falls to Western Connecticut and Kean

            DANBURY, Conn. -- The University of Southern Maine women's volleyball put on a gallant effort rallying from two sets down to force a fifth and deciding set before falling to Western Connecticut State University 3-2 (25-23, 25-17, 22-25, 17-25, 15-13) in the teams Little East Conference opener on Saturday at Feldman Arena.

            The Huskies had to come right back to face Kean University and fell 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-18).  The Huskies have dropped their last three matches to slip to 5-4 overall and 0-1 in LEC play.  Western Connecticut also fell to Kean 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-20) to fall to 4-8 overall and 1-0 in the LEC.  Kean improved to 7-4 overall with the two non-conference wins.

            Down 2-0, the Huskies came back against the Colonials to take the next two sets.  In the final set, the Huskies rallied from six points down (8-2, 10-4) to get within one point on three occasions, twice on kills from senior Jess Williamson (Goffstown, N.H.).  The Colonials hung on to take the final point on a kill from rookie Ali Brochu (Winsted, Conn./The Gilbert School) to win the match.  Williamson had seven kills in the final set to finish the match with a match-high 20 kills.

            Williamson earned a double-double as she also had 15 digs.  Junior setter Nicole Schmitz (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham) passed out 29 assists and had four kills and six digs.  Senior Mariah Garcia (Brighton, Colo./Central) had a match-high 20 digs.

            Brochu led three Colonials in double figures for kills with 13 and had a .375 attack percentage (13-4-24).  Junior Kamari King (East Hartford, Conn.) added 12 and rookie Nicolina Chenard (Ardsley, N.Y.) contribute 11.  Junior Jenna Skerritt (Wolcott, Conn.) dished out 39 assists, and junior Jenna Pisano (Orange, Conn./Amity Regional) had a team-high 15 digs.

            Coming back to play Kean, the Huskies could not match the Cougars at the net.  The Cougars racked up a .393 team attack percentage in the opening set (14-3-28), and a .286 percentage (13-5-28) in the second to grab the lead.

            Williamson led the Huskies with nine kills and had five digs.  Schmitz chipped in 17 assists, and Garcia had 10 digs. 

            Sophomore Jesse Larkin (Redwood City, Calif.) and junior Brett Harper (Vero Beach, Fla.) had eight kills apiece for the Cougars.  Sophomore Brianna Calvano (Williamstown, N.J.) passed out 36 assists, and sophomore Kortnee Nelson (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) had 10 digs.

            Southern Maine returns home after six straight road matches to host Husson University on Tuesday (7:00 p.m.).  Western Connecticut is off until next Saturday (1:00 p.m.) when it hosts the University of Massachusetts Boston in a Little East Conference match.  Kean travel to Montclair State on Tuesday (7:00 p.m.).

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