Bangor, ME - Saturday marked the last day of the regular season for the Husson University Eagles volleyball team, as they hosted a North Atlantic Conference tri-match with the Maine Maritime Academy Mariners and the Green Mountain College Eagles.

Husson would end up taking a split on the day, as they dropped a competitive match with MMA to start and finished with a strong win over GMC.  

The Eagles also recognized their lone senior, middle hitter Alexandra deHertogh (Cumberland, RI), before their final home game of the season.  deHertogh, who ranks in the top-five of numerous HU volleyball career statistical categories, was joined by her parents to honor her four great years with the program.  

The showdown between Husson and MMA was highly-anticipated coming in, after the Mariners took a hotly-contested match between the two on September 16.  The second time around played out just as evenly as the first, but MMA had too much firepower in the end to score a straight-set win (25-20, 25-19, 25-21).    

Serving proved to be the decisive factor for the Mariners, as they totaled 12 aces to Husson's six.  MMA (13-13, 5-1 NAC) put away six more kills than the Eagles as well, while HU held the slight advantage in blocks and digs.  

Gillian O'Neal was a force for the Mariners, piling up 17 kills and seven aces to lead the match in both categories.  O'Neal also picked up eight digs on defense.  Sydney Robertson added six kills for MMA, while Betsy Trenckmann posted 30 assists and Jess Menges contributed four kills with 10 digs.  

Husson (9-21, 3-3 NAC) kept pace with MMA the entire way, but the Eagles were never able to hold onto a lead when they got it.  It seemed as though HU was going to extend the match with a solid start in game three after jumping out to an 11-6 lead, but MMA put together a 10-2 run to gain the upper hand that they would not relinquish. 

Kristen Atwood (Cumberland, ME) led Husson with eight kills for the match, while Emma Plouffe (Frankfort, NY) and Bailey Cote (Biddeford, ME) each added four.  

Ryan Hood (Princeton, ME) posted 14 assists for the Eagles, while Sarah Wilson (Dover, NH) collected a match-high 21 digs.  deHertogh notched three kills with 2.5 total blocks--two blocks solo, one block assist--and Kayla Hannon (Salem, NH) chipped in with three aces and seven assists.      

Husson would settle for the split on the day via a hard-fought sweep of the GMC Eagles (25-16, 25-12, 25-23).  Green Mountain gave HU all it could handle, but the hosts were able to persevere in the end for a hard-fought win to finish the regular season.  

deHertogh capped off her career at the Newman Gymnasium in a fantastic way, putting away a match-high six kills on 12 attacks with no errors.  Coach Jodie Fairbank also let the middle hitter known as "D-H" play defense in the back row the entire match rather than bring in a libero, and she impressed with a match-high 14 digs.  

Cote, a freshman middle who has been impressive all year long, dominated the first set and finished the match with five kills, two solo blocks, and three aces.  Atwood totaled four more kills to round out her solid day, and Caela Fenderson (Charlotte, ME) put away three kills in the third set to go along with two aces.

Marissa Johnson (Russell, NY) led Husson with seven assists, and Rashell Saucier (Washburn, ME) picked up seven digs to help the defense.  

Torie Cowell paced GMC (1-18, 0-6 NAC)with five kills and three aces, with Megan Roy passing out 10 assists and Celeste Bowers tallying eight digs. 

Husson now waits to see what seed they will earn in the NAC playoffs which start November 7 at the highest seed.