Volleyball Stretches Win Streak to Six with Sweep of Southern Maine

GORHAM, Maine – Suffolk volleyball racked up its sixth straight victory, a straight set victory over Southern Maine, Saturday afternoon at Hill Gymnasium. The Rams triumph came via set scores 25-19, 25-16 and 25-12. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Southern Maine 0 
RECORDS: Suffolk (8-2) | Southern Maine (2-7)  

SET ONE RECAP (25-19, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk leaped out to an 8-2 lead. 
• The Rams advantaged blossomed into 16-7. 
• The Huskies played their way back and trimmed the gap down to 19-14.
• Suffolk scored four of the next five points to come two points away of locking up the first frame. 
• Southern Maine rallied and put together a 4-0 spurt to keep things interesting, 23-19. 
• McKenna Keowen took matters into her own hands as she locked up the opening-set win for Suffolk with back-to-back kills.   

SET TWO RECAP (25-16, SUFFOLK)

• Suffolk started with a 9-3 edge. 
• Southern Maine pulled within five, 15-10, to force the Rams into a timeout. 
• Out of the huddle, the blue-and-gold put together a 4-1 run to go up 19-11. 
• After a Huskies timeout, the teams traded points and thankfully the early advantage paid off for Suffolk. 

SET THREE RECAP (25-12, SUFFOLK)

• Once again Suffolk started out hot, 7-3. 
• That advantage grew to 10 points, 16-6. 
• The Rams never looked back from there as they outscored the host 9-6 the rest of the way. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Keowen finished with 11 kills behind a .308 attack percentage to go along with six digs, three aces and one block. 
• Jasmine James was on the verge of double-digit kills with nine to her credit on a .500 conversation rate. 
• Alina Nowakowski registered eight kills and one block. 
• Harmony Johnson held down the setter's role with 30 assists to her credit. She added 11 digs to contribute a double-double effort that also featured four aces, one block and one kill. 
• Kenzley Bell chipped in 11 digs, four assists, four aces and one kill.  

NOTEWORTHY

• The sixth straight win for Suffolk marks the longest win streak for the Rams since winningest 10 matches in a row in 1997. 
• Suffolk and Southern Maine met for the first time since 2018 and fourth time overall. 
• The Rams defeated the Huskies for the first time in program history. 
• Suffolk moved to 1-3 all-time against USM. 
• Suffolk battled at USM for the first time. 
• Three of the four matches between the Rams and Huskies have been decided in straight sets.
• Johnson recorded her eighth collegiate double-double, first since Oct. 19, 2021 versus the University of New England.  

POST-MATCH PIC
  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk rides its six-match win streak into its Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) debut, that is on tap for Tuesday, Sept. 20 at Gordon at 7 p.m.