Southern Maine Rallies to Down Colby-Sawyer in Five Sets

            NEW LONDON, N.H. -- The visiting University of Southern Maine women's volleyball team rallied from a set down to defeat Colby-Sawyer College, 3-2 (25-18, 24-26, 27-29, 25-17, 15-9), in a non-conference match Wednesday evening at the Hogan Sports Center.

            The win got the Huskies back to the .500 mark for the season at 15-15.  The Chargers, winners of their last two and four of the last five, slip to 16-16.

            Three Huskies posted double-doubles in the win.  Sophomore setter/right side hitter Sophie Lindsay (Pasadena, Calif.) had her team-high 13th double-double dishing out 27 assists and digging up 23 balls.  Lindsay was one kill shy of a triple-double.  Senior Megan Gettings (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) had 10 kills and 22 digs for her third double-double of the season, and junior Jamie Jannarone (Windham, Maine) had 11 kills and 14 digs for her first double-double of the campaign.

            CSC senior Rebecca Straubel (Altamont, N.Y./Guilderland) led all players with 16 kills and had 19 digs for a double-double.  Sophomore setter Anna Allen (Los Angeles, Calif./El Segundo) orchestrated the Charger offense with 36 assists and had a match-high 25 digs.  Sophomore Sam Mohammed (Killingworth, Conn./Haddam-Killingworth) also had a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs.

            A 9-1 run early in the first set sent the Huskies on to a 1-0 lead.  Gettings had four kills, and Lindsay and freshman Joie Hared (South Salem, N.Y./John Jay) had three kills apiece.  In a nip-and-tuck second set, the teams swapped the lead four times and there were 12 ties before the Chargers took the final two points for a 26-24 win.

            In the pivotal third set, the Chargers rallied from a 24-21 deficit to force the set into extra time.  Both sides opportunities to take the set before the Chargers staved off a set point on a Straubel kill and a couple Husky errors to take the set and a 2-1 lead.

            The Huskies stormed out of the gates in the fourth set taking a 7-1 lead.  After the Chargers pulled within three (7-4), the Huskies went on a 10-3 run to take a 17-7 lead.  The Chargers closed to within five (18-13), but a pair of aces from Hared propelled the Huskies on to the win forcing a decisive fifth set.

            A kill from USM sophomore Molly Mawhinney (South Portland, Maine) tied the fifth set at 3-3.  Junior Lauren Delissio (Hebron, Conn./RHAM) served eight straight points for the Huskies to give the visitors an 11-3 lead.  CSC were able to pull within five on three occasions before a blocking point by Lindsay and senior Kylee Austin (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) gave USM the set, and the match.

            Southern Maine concludes the 2019 regular season with a tri-match Saturday (12 p.m.) at Keene State College along with Lasell College.  Colby-Sawyer travels to Johnson and Wales University (R.I.) for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference tri-match with JWU and Norwich University.

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