GORHAM, Maine – Junior Drew Johnson (Pismo Beach, Cali. /Brewer) and freshman Macie Ahmer (Lake Villa, Ill./Grayslake North recorded double-doubles to help the University of Southern Maine women's volleyball team defeat the Saint Joseph's College Monks 3-1 on Tuesday night in Gorham. Johnson logged with 14 kills and 13 digs while Ahmer had 36 assists and 10 digs.
 
Freshman Ella Koehler (Pickerington, Ohio/Fairfield Christian Academy) contributed 11 kills while fifth-year senior Sierra Castonguay (Nottingham, N.H./Dover) had a game-leading 16 digs.
 
 
The Records:
Saint Joseph's: 4-10
Southern Maine: 4-11
 
Series History:
The two local rivals have now played 85 times with the Huskies leading the series 51-34. Tonight's win snapped a four-match losing streak for the Huskies against the Monks and gave them their first win in the series since 2021. Saint Joseph's won the first match between the teams this season 3-0 on August 31.
 
How It Happened:

• The Huskies led for the majority of the first set and scored 11 of the last 13 points to close out the set 25-15. The set ended on a 4-0 run by the Huskies that featured Castonguay recording two aces. The Huskies recorded 13 kills and hit .296 in the set.
• The Monks flipped the score around in the second set after racing out to a 15-6 lead. The Monks hit .241 in the set to even the match at 1-1.
• The Huskies jumped out to another early lead in the third set after the Monks scored on the opening serve. The Huskies led by as many as 11 points in the set and won 25-19 despite a late rally by the Monks.
• Two 4-0 runs helped the Huskies take the lead and later pull away from the Monks in the fourth set. The first rally came with Saint Joseph's leading 8-7 while the latter allowed the Huskies to expand the lead to 17-11. The Monks cut the lead to 24-22 with a late 7-3 rally before a kill by Johnson ended the match.

 
Inside The Stats:

• Johnson led all players in kills followed by Koehler with 11 and Maggie Sylvester from Saint Joseph's with 10.
• Koehler also had a solo block and a block assist.
• Senior Madison Zimmer (Regina, Saskatchewan/Dr. Martin LeBoldus Catholic) had four aces and five kills. The Huskies led 12-5 in aces.
• Sophomore Anyelis Hernandez (Lawrence, Mass.) recorded eight kills while sophomore Darrien Pugsley (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Arlington) added four and two block assists.
• Victoria Briones had 12 digs to lead the Monks and came one kill short of a double-double.
• Tamya Johnson and Riley Greenley each surpassed 10 assists for the Monks. Johnson led her with 16 and Greenley had 13.
• The Huskies had 10 or more kills in each set that they won.

 
Up Next:
The Huskies will host a tri-match on Saturday with games against UMass Dartmouth (12:00 pm) and Emmanuel College (4:00 pm) as part of the University's Homecoming & Family Weekend.

-rwd-