Huskies Head to Castleton for a Tri-Match on Saturday

            NASHUA, N.H. -- Senior middle hitter Jess Whyte (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth South) had a match-high 18 kills to lead River University to a 3-1 victory (25-23, 18-25, 25-19, 25-19) over the University of Southern Maine in non-conference women's volleyball action Thursday night at Muldoon Gymnasium.

            The Raiders won their fourth straight match to improve to 10-5 overall.  The Huskies dropped to 5-9 overall.

            Whyte had seven kills to lead the Raiders to a hard-fought, 25-23 win the in the opening set.  The Huskies bounced back to take the second set 25-18.  In the pivotal third set, Whyte knocked down six kills, and sophomore setter Avery Pollard (Ballston Lake, N.Y./Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) chipped in with four kills, as the Raiders took the set, 25-19, and 2-1 lead.  The Raiders closed the match taking the final set 25-19.

            Three USM players, sophomore Sophie Lindsay (Pasadena, Calif.), junior Jamie Jannarone (Windham, Maine) and rookie Joie Hared (South Salem, N.Y./John Jay), led a balanced offense with seven kills apiece.  Lindsay also had 13 assists.

            Rookie Cassidy Gibb (Lee, N.H./Oyster River) led the Huskies with 17 assists, and juniors Rachel Chillé (Yarmouth, Maine) and Lauren Delissio (Hebron, Conn./RHAM) had 16 and 15 digs respectively.

            Pollard, who had all four of her kills in the third set, posted a double-double with 45 assists and 14 digs.  Junior Julia Zargaj (Groveland, Mass./Central Catholic) and senior Taylor Dunster (Sutton, Mass.) contributed 11 kills apiece.  Dunster also had 15 digs to earn a double-double.  Sophomore Sydney Racevicius (Woodbury, Conn./Cheshire Academy) led all players with 17 digs.

            Southern Maine hits the road for a Saturday (10 a.m.) tri-match at Castleton University.  USM will take on Castleton in a Little East Conference match, followed by a non-conference affair against Paul Smith's College.  Rivier is off until next Wednesday (7 p.m.) when it travels to Anna Maria College for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference match.

-ble-