Southern Maine Athletics

GORHAM, Maine – Junior Alexis Tortola (Rowland Heights, Cali./Bishop Amat) recorded a season-high 18 assists to help lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies' women's volleyball to a 3-0 non-conference win over the Husson University Eagles on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Reese Helisek (Halifax, Mass./Silver Lake Regional) added 11 assists, while sophomore Haylie Bidegain (Logan, N.M) posted a team-leading 12 kills.
 
Freshman Sofia Daoud (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) led the Huskies in both digs with 15 and aces with three. Her 15 digs were a game-high. Senior Anyelis Hernandez (Lawrence, Mass.) finished second on the team in kills with seven. Sophomore Caitlyn McGranahan (Seattle, Wash./Lake Stevens) matched her season-high for kills with six to rank third on the team.
 
Husson's Eden Fraser led all players in assists with 24. Peyton Hooker and Janna Preskorn paced the Husson attack with 13 and 11 kills, respectively.
 
The Huskies celebrated the induction of program legend Jess Williamson '18 into the Little East Conference Hall of Fame prior to the match. Williamson is the program's leader in career kills with 1,849 and the only player in program history to record both 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs.
 
The Records:
Husson: 1-9
Southern Maine: 4-7
 
Series History:
The Huskies lead all-time series 45-17. The Huskies have now won the last four meetings, including both matches last season.
 
How It Happened:

• After a 3-0 run by the Eagles to start the first set, the Huskies rattled off a 7-0 run that included three aces by Daoud. The Huskies remained ahead for the rest of the set for a 25-23 win despite a late comeback attempt by the Eagles.
• In the second set featured 10 lead changes, but the Huskies were able to secure a 28-26 win with 16 of their points coming from kills, and five of those kills coming from Bidegain. Southern Maine scored the final three points of the set off two kills by Bidegain that came in-between a solo block by Tortola.
• Husson led by as many as six points in the third set, but the Huskies were able to chip away at the lead to take a 22-2 lead. Husson went back ahead with back-to-back kills by Hooker before sophomore Scarlett Squires (Mount Desert, Maine/Mount Desert Island) matched that with two kills of her own. The sweep was completed with an ace by senior Amelia Beatty (Rochester, N.H./Spaulding).

 
Inside The Stats:

• The Huskies had a 39-30 lead in kills and a 45-38 lead in digs.
• Husson recorded 11 aces in the match to Southern Maine's eight.

 
Up Next:
The Huskies will play Colby College on Tuesday on the road at 6:00 pm.