GORHAM, Maine -- Paced by the strong all-around game of junior Sophie Lindsay (Pasadena, Calif.), the University of Southern Maine women's volleyball team opened its 2020-21 season with a 3-0 victory over visiting the Northern Vermont University-Johnson Badgers on Senior Day on Sunday at the Warren Hill Gymnasium.
            Prior to the start of Sunday's match, the Huskies honored their two departing four-year seniors, Lauren Delissio (Hebron, Conn./RHAM) and Jamie Jannarone (Windham, Maine).
            Lindsay led the Huskies with eight kills (with no errors) on 14 attacks for a .571 hitting percentage.  She orchestrated the Huskies offense dishing out 21 assists to lead all players, and had nine digs.
            Rookie Brianna DelloIacono (Moodus, Conn.) had seven kills in the well-balanced USM attack.  Jannarone add five kills from her right-side position.  Rookie Sierra Castonguay (Nottingham, N.H./Dover) made an immediate impact with six service aces and eight digs from the back row.  Delissio shared the team-lead with Lindsay digging nine balls.
            NVU-Johnson junior Christina Betham ('Aiea, Hawaii) led all players with 10 kills and had six digs.  Rookies Natalia Medina (San Jose, Calif.) and Kira Atkinson (Hopewell, N.J.) added six and five kills, respectively.  Junior Kylie Berry (Colorado Springs, Colo.) passed out 17 assist, and rookie libero Bella Baragona (Milwaukie, Ore.) led all players with 11 digs.
            The Huskies trailed throughout the first set before a run of five consecutive points erased a 23-20 deficit for a 25-23 win.  Castonguay contributed a service ace in the run, and rookie Kailey Foley (New Gloucester, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester) clinched the set with a kill off an assist from Lindsay.
            USM fell behind in the second set before overcoming NVU-Johnson with a 9-1 run.  Down 12-10, the Huskies received a pair of kills from DelloIacono and three service aces from Castonguay in the run to build a 19-13 lead, and saw the set out from there.
            Unlike the first two sets, it was the Huskies who jumped out to an early 8-1 lead in set three, keyed by a pair of kills from Lindsay and two more aces from Castonguay.  The Badgers never got closer than four points, the last time at 12-8.  The Huskies took six of the final seven points and closed the match on a Jannarone ace.
            Southern Maine finished with a .244 hitting percentage (32-11-86) and had 12 service aces.  On the opposite side, NVU-Johnson had a .084 hitting percentage (26-19-83) and six service aces.  Both sides compiled 35 digs.
            The Huskies, playing an abbreviated spring season due to Covid-19, begin 1-0.  The Badgers dropped to 0-3 on the spring.