GORHAM, Maine — The Maine Maritime Academy volleyball team picked up a pair of convincing victories Saturday at Hill Gym, sweeping Dean College and the University of Southern Maine to improve to 2-1 on the season.
The Mariners opened the day with a dominant 3-0 victory over Dean, winning 25-11, 25-7, 25-9, before completing the sweep of Southern Maine, 25-12, 25-22, 25-15.
Maine Maritime controlled the match against Dean from the opening serve, jumping out to a 10-3 lead in the first set before cruising to a 25-11 victory. The Mariners carried that momentum into the second set, opening with a 6-0 run and building a 17-4 advantage before taking the set 25-7. Maine Maritime closed out the match with another strong start in the third set and finished with a 25-9 victory.
Senior
Ally Hadley led the Mariners with 11 kills on 18 attacks while hitting .444. Senior
Sydney Williams added six kills on 13 attacks with a .462 hitting percentage, while freshman
Lyla Annen recorded four kills. Freshmen
Kelsie Murray and
Jaslene Butler each contributed three kills.
Freshman
Faith Reed orchestrated the offense with 21 assists and added six service aces. Junior
Hannah Tate contributed five assists and a team-high 15 digs, while Williams and Annen each recorded eight digs.
The Mariners finished the Dean match with 30 kills against just five errors for a .362 team hitting percentage. Maine Maritime also recorded 14 service aces and three team blocks.
Maine Maritime carried that momentum into its second match of the day against Southern Maine, earning another three-set victory. The Mariners took the opening set 25-12 after building a 16-7 lead and closing on a 9-5 run.
The second set featured a much tighter battle, with the teams tied at 14-14 before Maine Maritime used a 5-0 run to take a 19-15 lead. Southern Maine pulled within one at 19-18, but the Mariners answered and finished the set 25-22.
Maine Maritime again took control early in the third set, turning a 2-2 tie into a 7-2 lead. The Mariners extended their advantage to 11-5 and later used another 5-0 run to take a 17-10 lead before closing out the match, 25-15.
Annen and Hadley led the Mariners with 11 kills apiece against Southern Maine, while Williams added 10 kills. Hadley finished with a team-high 14 points and eight digs, while Williams recorded 14 points, three digs and two blocks.
Reed directed the offense with 28 assists and added 12 digs. Tate contributed six assists and a team-high 18 digs, while Annen also recorded 12 digs.
Maine Maritime finished the Southern Maine match with 40 kills, eight service aces and four blocks while hitting .182 as a team. The Mariners collected 55 digs in the three-set victory.
The Mariners return to action on Friday at the MIT Invitational with a matchup against the University of Scranton at 6 p.m.
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