Southern Maine Athletics

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Sarina Marines recorded a game-high 17 kills to lead the Rhode Island College Anchorwomen to a 3-0 win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies' women's volleyball team on Saturday afternoon in three highly-contested sets. Senior Anyelis Hernandez (Lawrence, Mass.) matched her career-high with 12 kills to lead the Huskies' offense. Junior Alexis Tortola (Rowland Heights, Cali./Bishop Amat) finished one dig away from a double-double with 12 assists and nine digs.
 
Senior Kylee Eubanks-Hemme (Rosamond, Cali.) matched Tortola for the most digs on the team with nine. Sophomore Reese Helisek (Halifax, Mass./Silver Lake Regional) recorded 11 assists to finish second on the team behind Tortola, while sophomore Lizzy Harbester (Plympton, Mass./Silver Lake Regional) finished second in kills with seven.
 
Senior Amelia Beatty (Rochester, N.H./Spaulding) became the 16th player in program history to reach 100 career matches played during today's contest.
 
The Records:
Southern Maine: 4-12 (0-2 LEC)
RIC: 8-9 (1-3 LEC)
 
Series History:
Today's match was the 34th in series history. Rhode Island College leads the all-time series 25-9. The Huskies overcame a 2-0 deficit in last season's match for a 3-2 win to earn their first win over the Anchorwomen since a 3-0 win on October 16, 2021. The teams have evenly split the past five meetings 5-5.
 
How it Happened:

• The Anchorwomen won the first set 25-21 despite a late rally by the Huskies to try to close the gap. Hernandez recorded five kills in the opening set to lead all players. RIC had three aces in the set.
• The hosts won the second set 25-23 to go up 2-0. RIC led by as many as six points, but the Huskies fought back to tie the set at 20-20 before the Anchorwomen went on a 3-0 run. A kill by Hernandez and an ace by Beatty cut the score to 23-22, but two kills by Marines helped the Anchorwomen close out the set.
• The back-and-forth battle continued in the third set as the lead changed multiple times before the Anchorwomen took the set 26-24. Sophomore Haylie Bidegain (Logan, N.M) recorded four kills in the set for the Huskies.

 
Inside the Stats:

• The Anchorwomen led 48-36 in kills and 8-7 in aces.
• Beatty and Helisek each had two aces for the Huskies.

 
Up Next:
The Huskies will host UMass Dartmouth on Tuesday at 1:00 pm in Hill Gym. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, September 26 before it was postponed due to weather and travel conditions. The team will then host a non-conference match against Suffolk University on Thursday at 7:00 pm.