GORHAM, Maine – University of Southern Maine (7-10) defeated Saint Joseph's College (5-11), 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-14), in a non-conference women's volleyball match on Tuesday night.

Saint Joseph's jumped in front 8-2 in the early stages of the first set using a Sierra Burns (Peyton, Colo.) ace to build a big edge. The Huskies immediately went on a 13-2 scoring spurt to push ahead 15-10 getting three kills from freshman outside hitter Alizia Lagando during the binge. Another Burns ace late in the set off the arm of Lagando put the Monks down one, 19-18 and Hanna Webster (Alvin, Texas) eventually evened the margin at 23-23, but a senior setter Sophie Lindsay skip set kill coupled with a Madison Zimmer mash wrapped up the closest set of the evening.

Trailing 10-8 in the second set USM exploded outproducing their opponent 9-1 in the middle portion of the set to move in the driver's seat 17-11 when Zimmer converted a freeball kill. The Husky advantage increased to eight late, 23-15 when Lagando and Zimmer skied up for a dual block at the pin. A Monk attack error gave the Huskies a 2-0 set lead.

The third set was all USM early when they grew their advantage to 16-5. Holding a 17-6 lead, the Monks would not go down quietly as they put together six straight to cut their deficit to 17-12 with Sarah Hotchkiss (New Durham, N.H.) serving. The Huskies responded with six in a row to regain the 11 point lead and complete the sweep.

LEADERS:

• Freshman Allison McMullen (Jacksonville, Fla.) led the Monks with nine kills
• Webster notched six kills and three total blocks
• Burns contributed with 12 digs and three service aces
• Senior Nicole Baron (Derry, N.H.) and junior Isabel Philbrick (Milford, N.H.) added three kills
• Junior Hanna Holden (Stoughton, Mass.) delivered 19 assists and a pair of kills

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's will host Dean College on Wednesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match slated to start at 6:00 PM.

THANKS IN PART TO USM SPORTS INFORMATION

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