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BIDDEFORD, Maine -- The University of New England traded blows with the University of Southern Maine until emerging with a 3-2 women's volleyball triumph on Saturday (Oct. 8) at the Harold Alfond Forum. Set scores were 25-22, 23-25, 26-24, 22-25, and 25-12.

Big Blue led by four early in the deciding set, but things were soon tied at 10-10. The hosts again pulled in front with a four-point run that included two kills by Bekah Mather, and though the Huskies drew back within two (14-12), Erika Sawicki came through on the ensuing play to seal the result for the Nor'easters.

Maddy Blake paced UNE with 16 kills and 16 digs. Sawicki chipped in with 13 winners and Rene Roggenbuck tossed in 11 more. Mather's eight kills were matched by Grayson Szczepaniak, and the duo shared in four blocks (Szczepaniak factored in 7 total). Kristen Falcinelli shined with 46 assists, 13 digs, seven kills, and three aces. Nikki Mathewson and Brittany Morrison anchored the back line efforts with 16 and 14 digs, respectively.

For Southern Maine, Jess Williamson dialed up 19 kills to go with 13 digs. Robbi Termentozzi added 14 kills, while 10 more came from both Faolain Harrington and Nicole Schmitz. Harrington also picked up 13 digs and had two solo blocks; Schmitz made her performance a triple-double by notching 25 assists and 11 digs. Megan Nilson framed the attack with 33 assists, and had 20 digs as well -- a figure that was equaled by Jenna Graves.

The Nor'easters were down by three in the early-going of the 1st set, until two winners by Szczepaniak spurred a 6-0 run to swing the cushion. UNE again found itself trailing down the stretch (19-17), but capitalized on four USM errors in the plays that followed to grab the lead.

Southern Maine held another 19-17 edge in the 2nd, however conceded a 6-1 spurt as UNE looked to seize control of the contest (23-20). Williamson helped make sure that didn't happen, though, book-ending five unanswered points with a kill and a block that made things even on the scoreboard.

Big Blue raced out to a 10-1 padding in the 3rd, only to see the Huskies return the exact same surge. Graves had four of her six aces in the run. The teams were not separated by more than two points the rest of the stanza, as UNE squeezed out the frame.

The Nor'easters positioned themselves to wrap up the match in four sets with a 19-14 margin, however it was mostly USM for the remainder of the session. Termentozzi chalked up four of her six kills in the set during the closing sequence to force the 5th.

UNE (10-7), which lost to Southern Maine by a 3-0 margin earlier in the season, resumes Commonwealth Coast Conference action on Tuesday (7 p.m.) with a home date against Wentworth Institute of Technology. The Huskies (11-7) will visit Saint Josephs' College on Thursday.


Later in the day: UNE 3, Maine Maritime 2