(With contributions from Nichols College Sports Information)

Southern Maine Sweeps Nichols 3-0

            DUDLEY, Mass. -- Led by 15 kills from senior Jess Williamson (Goffstown, N.H.), the visiting University of Southern Maine women's volleyball team racked up an impressive .345 attack percentage en route to a 3-0 victory (25-10, 25-9, 25-11) over Nichols College in a non-conference match Thursday evening at the Nichols Athletic Center.

            The win was the second straight for the Huskies, and improved their overall record to 7-4.  The Bison dropped to 2-10 overall with their ninth consecutive loss.  The match was the first between the two teams.

            USM raced to 14-1 lead in the opening set as Williamson knocked down four kills. After an 8-5 run by the Bison made it 19-9, the Huskies closed the set with a 6-1 run, capped by another Williamson kill.

            In the second set, USM had a 13-9 lead midway through the set.  With senior Mo Raymond (Sanbornton, N.H./Winnisquam) serving, the Huskies won 12 consecutive points to take a 2-0 lead.

            Up 13-9 in the third set, the Huskies went on a 12-2 run to take the set, and the match.  Williamson posted four kills in the final run, and junior Nicole Schmitz (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham) added two kills and a pair of service aces.

            USM finished the match with 43 kills and just 13 attack errors on 87 total attacks, and served up 13 aces.  Conversely, Nichols had just eight kills with 18 errors on 70 attacks for a -.143 attack percentage.

            Williamson had a .545 attack percentage (15-3-22) for the match to lead the Huskies' offense.  Sophomore Chelsea Hranek (Fallbrook, Calif.) came off the bench to swing for seven kills on 12 attacks.  Sophomore Faolain Harrington (Auburn, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) and Schmitz had five kills apiece.  Harrington had a team-high six aces and seven digs.  Schmitz dished out 25 assists, and sophomore Emily Saunders (Center Ossipee, N.H./Kingswood Regional) passed out 10 assists.  Senior Mariah Garcia (Brighton, Colo./Central) had nine digs.

            Sophomore J'ena Baker (Rockledge, Fla.) paced the Bison with four kills on the night while adding four digs and a block. Freshman Haley Pichard (Hingham, Mass.) handed out eight assists.  Defensively, sophomore Jayla Simmons (Rockledge, Fla.) led the Bison with a game-high 11 digs, including six in the third set.

            Southern Maine returns home to begin a stretch of six straight home matches on Saturday (12:00 p.m.) with a Little East Conference match against Rhode Island College.  USM will also play Colby College in a non-conference match.  Nichols travels to the University of New England on Saturday (1:00 p.m.).

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