Statistics
GORHAM, Maine -- The University of New England topped the University of Southern Maine for the fifth consecutive time on Saturday morning (Sep. 5), besting the Huskies by a 3-1 margin (25-18, 25-7, 24-26, 25-17) in women's volleyball action at Hill Gymnasium.
The Nor'easters (2-0) attacked at a .282 rate -- an improvement on opening night.
Tess Madden paced the offense with 14 kills, while
Kendall Gallaugher and
Hannah Nowell each added 10. Gallaugher went without an error, posting a .588 hitting percentage on her own 17 swings.
Hayley Shult and
Olivia Hollander put up 27 and 17 assists, respectively.
Nowell had three blocks and a match-best 18 digs.
Lylah Shumway turned in 14 digs and tallied five service aces.
For Southern Maine (1-2), Haylie Bidegain totaled 10 kills with a .529 attack average. Reese Helisek registered a double-double with 18 assists and 15 digs.
UNE led the whole way in the 1st set, utilizing a 9-1 spurt in the middle to seize control (17-6). The Huskies kept relative pace in the 2nd (12-6) after falling behind 7-1, but then the Nor'easters stormed off with 13 of the next 14 points to take a commanding edge.
USM trailed by as many as seven (10-3) in the 3rd, but ended up winning five of the last six to get on the overall scoreboard. Things were tighter deeper into the 4th, until a 5-0 burst -- including four points in-a-row by Madden -- pushed the visitors to a 19-12 cushion and on the verge of closing out the match.
Afterward, UNE head coach
Ian Blanchard had several positives to share.
"Kendall and Abby Simao continued their strong play at Oppo. As Kendall continues to get more comfortable with the position, her numbers continue to climb. She is just really steady and understands what she needs to do in tough situations. Tess was solid again, with a great combo of power and a variety of off speed swings. Lylah and Aubrey Young are proving to be a great combo for us defending defending the court, as they both see the game very well and are calm under pressure. Hayley and Olivia continued to distribute the ball well and found the right hitting match-ups throughout most of the match. We need to complete our blocks better, and that will be a focus for us once we get back to practice."
Later in the day:
UNE 3, Dean 0
