The USM volleyball team faced early deficits and communication issues that led to UMass Dartmouth victories, 25-9, 25-13, and 25-23, over the Huskies at Hill Gymnasium in Gorham on Saturday.
Senior co-captain and outside hitter Shannon Shuttle (New Ipswich, N.H) played a key leadership role on the court , trying to pick up the spirits of the Husky squad as well as junior outside hitter Hallie Noah (Anchorage, AL) with her ability to score off the serve. These efforts, however, weren’t enough to overtake a skilled opposition.
An early lead of 8-2 in the first game saw UMass Dartmouth dominating the Huskies at the point of attack. It seemed like the Corsairs were predicting where the Husky defense would be shifting to and were able to place the ball in exactly the right spot to avoid a return. UMass had the Huskies confused from the beginning, catching them out of position and capitalizing on their opportunities by finding the holes.
In the second game the Huskies couldn’t find their rhythm. They were unable to string together multiple points or get multiple stops in a row against a very active UMass Dartmouth team. Again the Corsairs built an early lead, and despite timeouts to try and disrupt the momentum, USM wasn’t able to shake their sharp opponents’ focus. Game number two ended with UMass going on an eight point run, leaving the Huskies behind as they tried returning service from UMD junior outside hitter Allie Mastrocola.
“We really need to work on our communication, that was a big issue for us. We had trouble with our serves today and it makes it tough to get a good rally going when you can’t keep possession,” said senior captain Daniel Netland (Cumberland).
Getting a little luck from the net to start off the third game, the Huskies came back from a 5-0 deficit to tie the score at five apiece early on. In what had been by far the most competitive, back-and-forth, action of the day, the Huskies found themselves in the lead 17-15 with the serve and a rally on their side. The Corsairs picked up right where they left off in the second game however, and went ahead to reclaim the lead 21-20 after a couple exhausting volleys fell in their favor. Not looking back, the UMass Dartmouth girls went on to claim the final game 25-21.
“We couldn’t get very good passes from the back to the front lines and that led to mistakes all around,” said Netland.
The Huskies will look to rebound when they host the University of Maine Fort Kent on Sept. 24 at 7 p.m.