Southern Maine Athletics

DANBURY, Conn. – Freshman Sofia Daoud (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) recorded a career-high 28 digs as the University of Southern Maine Huskies' women's volleyball team overcame a two-set deficit to defeat the WestConn Wolves 3-2 on Saturday afternoon in Danbury, Conn. The win is Southern Maine's first-ever against WestConn. Sophomore Haylie Bidegain (Logan, N.M) led the Huskies with 10 kills and five aces. Junior Alexis Tortola (Rowland Heights, Cali./Bishop Amat) contributed season-high 25 assists.
 
Sophomore Taylor Joyal (Nashua, N.H./Nashua North) ranked second on the team in digs with 13. Senior Anyelis Hernandez (Lawrence, Mass.) recorded nine kills to place second on the team. Sophomore Lizzy Harbester (Plympton, Mass./Silver Lake Regional) had a strong performance as well with eight digs and eight kills. The Huskies also had 13 assists from sophomore Reese Helisek (Halifax, Mass./Silver Lake Regional).
 
The Records:
Southern Maine: 6-16 (1-5 LEC)
WestConn: 4-16 (1-5 LEC)
 
Series History:
Today's win for the Huskies is their first against WestConn. The Wolves led the series 28-0 entering today's contest.
 
How it Happened:

• The Wolves took the opening set by a score of 25-16 after leading the majority of the set.
• Southern Maine jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second set before ultimately falling 25-22. WestConn recorded 17 kills in the set to Southern Maine's 10.
• The Huskies got off to another quick start in the third set with a 6-0 run that featured two aces from Tortola. Southern Maine held on to the lead the rest of the way for a 25-19 win that ended on a 4-0 run that included two kills by Joyal.
• Southern Maine's momentum carried over into the fourth set as they led all the way after starting out with three consecutive points. The Huskies used a 9-1 run to pull away and go ahead 17-7. The team's 13 kills in the set were they in another set of the match.
• Down 5-2 in the fifth set, the Huskies rallied for an 8-0 run that included two kills by Harbester, a kill from Joyal, ,two WestConn attack errors and two aces and a kill from Bidegain to go ahead 11-5. WestConn countered with a 4-0 run to cut the score to 11-9. A service error gave the Huskies another point before a WestConn kill made the score 12-10. Back-to-back kills by sophomore Scarlett Squires (Mount Desert, Maine/Mount Desert Island) and Hernandez put the Huskies at match-point 14-10. After a Husky service error, Hernandez hammered home the win for the Huskies with a kill for the 15-12 final.

 
Inside the Stats:

• WestConn had a slight 53-50 lead in kills and a 47-45 lead in assists.
• Each team had 15 aces. Bidegain and WestConn's Kyra Courtemanche led their teams with five each. Senior Amelia Beatty (Rochester, N.H./Spaulding) added three kills for the Huskies.

 
Up Next:
The Huskies will play Husson University on Tuesday, October 27 at 6:00 pm. The team will then return home for Senior Day against VTSU Castleton on Saturday, October 31 at 12:00 pm.