Bangor, ME - The Husson University volleyball team was looking for some revenge on Thursday night when it hosted the University of Southern Maine Huskies at the Newman Gymnasium.  

The Eagles suffered a straight-set loss when they traveled to USM on September 9, and that chip on the shoulder coupled with the added emotional boost of hosting the annual Dig Purple event figured to give the Eagles plenty of fire to play with.  

Husson displayed some of their best volleyball of the season, but they would come up short in the end as the tough USM squad took the match in four sets (25-14, 19-25, 25-13, 25-7).

"We looked the best we have all season in that second game," HU coach Jodie Fairbank said after the match.  "We rode the momentum from that for a while, but USM is a very good team and they were just too strong in the end, but I'm so proud of our girls' effort," she added.      

The Huskies held a slight advantage offensively (37 kills to HU's 33) but serving proved to be the difference as USM put away 19 aces compared to Husson's five.  The Huskies' service receive was adept all night, as they shanked just five errors on receiving serves.  

USM (14-7) started out the night strong, as they jumped to a 9-2 advantage early in game one thanks to some powerful offense from freshman Jessica Williamson.  She put away five kills in the first set alone, and the Huskies compiled a .429 hitting average while taking a 1-0 lead in the match.  

Game two started neck-and-neck, with USM earning a slight 7-4 advantage after two aces by Williamson.  The Huskies held a 9-7 lead before Husson forced a side-out, sending freshman Bailey Cote (Biddeford, ME) to the service line.  

Cote would utilize a jump-float to disrupt USM's otherwise great serve receive, and the Eagles took advantage of multiple miscues to go on an 8-point run which swung the momentum entirely in their favor.  The Huskies never got closer than five points from there on, and an Alexandra deHertogh (Cumberland, RI) solo block on the penultimate play put an exclamation point on the Eagles evening the match at 1-1.

Husson eked out to a 6-5 lead to begin the third set, but hitting errors by the Eagles and strong serving by the visitors would allow USM to gain control and a comfortable lead at 15-8, forcing the Eagles into a timeout.  HU would never could get much closer than that, as the Huskies went on to take a 2-1 advantage in the match.  

USM would run away with things in game four, as a side-out brought libero Demi Ruder to the serve line with an 11-5 lead.  She would serve up 13 straight points, including six aces, to put things out of reach and earn the road win for USM.  

Williamson put together a great stat line for the Huskies, tallying 16 kills, a .481 hitting average, five aces, and 11 digs for the match.  Monica Raymond put away nine kills for the victors, while Renee Trottier posted six kills and a match-high 13 digs.  Megan Nilson distributed the ball well for USM, accumulating 34 assists while Ruder also picked up nine digs on defense.

Husson was led offensively by Kristen Atwood (Cumberland, ME) with 10 kills on the night and a .471 hitting average.  deHertogh notched seven kills and three total blocks for the Eagles, while Cote added five kills and Nia Arranaga (San Jose, CA) had four.

Kayla Hannon (Salem, NH) had 10 assists for Husson, and Marissa Johnson (Russell, NY) provided a spark off the bench in games two and three while dishing out eight assists of her own.

"Marissa Johnson had an outstanding night for us tonight," Fairbank said after the match.  "She's earned playing time with her effort in practice the last couple of days, and she came in and gave us exactly what we needed in that second game.  I can't say enough about her performance tonight, it was great," Fairbank added.  

Rashell Saucier (Washburn, ME) had one of her better performances of the season at the net for the Eagles with three kills and two block assists, while Emma Plouffe (Frankfort, NY) added three kills and libero Sarah Wilson (Dover, NH) posted a team-high nine digs on the night.   

Husson drops to 6-19 overall with the loss, including an 0-2 record in North Atlantic Conference play.  The Eagles will now take all of Columbus Day weekend off, and get back in action next Saturday, October 18, when they travel to Maine Maritime Academy in Castine to face conference foes Johnson State and Lyndon State.