Bangor, ME -   The first win is the sweetest.  

Actually, Wednesday night provided a couple of firsts for the 2013 Husson University women's volleyball team.

The Eagles swept the University of Maine at Machias Clippers in straight sets (25-20, 25-22, 25-15) to earn their first victory of the season, as well as the first triumph of new coach Jodie Fairbank's career.  

"I like winning", Fairbank succinctly stated with a big sigh of relief after the match.  "And we had a big crowd in here, which was nice...It was good to have that supportive encouragement." 

It wasn't always easy for the Eagles in the match, as the Clippers' scrappy defense and timely serving kept them in it the whole way.  

Game one saw Husson only amass three kills to Machias's eight, but six hitting errors came back to hurt the Clippers in the end.  

After taking the first game, Husson seemed to take their foot off the gas to start game two.  Machias sprinted out to an 11-1 advantage, forcing Husson to use both timeouts early on.  The Eagles were able to use those breaks to refocus, and ended up pounding out 10 kills to come back and take game two 25-22.  

"The fact that they were able to come all the way back and take it, I was very happy with that.  We shouldn't have been down that much, but at least we turned it around and won," Fairbank said.

The Clippers ran out of gas in game three, as Husson compiled nine kills on 21 attacks to seal the match victory.  

Freshman Lindsay Chapman (Gorham, ME) led the Eagles' attack with seven kills on the match.  She also filled out the stat sheet by adding seven digs, three total blocks (two solo) and two service aces.  

Casey Lopes (New Bedford, MA) contributed five kills for the winners, while libero Kara Graham (East Machias, ME) picked up 21 digs, and Ryan Hood (Princeton, ME) dished out 14 assists and four aces to go along with eight digs.  

Heather Leonard (Dowagiac, MI) led the Clippers with eight kills in the match, while Hailey Lacey (Brockton, MA) added seven and Kyrstyn Ransom (Enosburg Falls, VT) contributed 11 digs and nine assists.  

In picking up the win, Husson moves to 1-3 on the young season, while Machias falls to 0-1.  

The Eagles will travel to St. Joseph's College in Standish this weekend for three matches.  They will play Lyndon State and St. Joe's at 6 and 8 p.m. Friday, while they take on Bates at 10 o'clock Saturday morning.  

The next home match for Husson will be next Tuesday, September 10, at 7 p.m. against the University of Southern Maine.