Volleyball Sweeps Southern Maine

BOSTON – Suffolk volleyball returned to the win column in sweeping fashion as the Rams stormed past Southern Maine in straight sets Tuesday night at Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court. The victory came via set scores 25-22, 25-19 and 25-16. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Southern Maine 0
RECORDS: Suffolk (8-6) | Southern Maine (4-9)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Down 16-15 in the first frame, Suffolk scored four straight to grain a 19-16 lead. That stretch featured an ace from Grace Cervena and a kill by Jessica Weber.  

The teams traded points before a Jasmine James killed was followed by an ace from Morgan Kelsey to turn on set point, 24-19.  

The Huskies made things interesting with three points in a row to make it a two-point gap, but Cervenka contributed a set-ending kill to give the host the 1-0 advantage. 

After the playing field leveled four times, with the last at 14-all, Suffolk jumped ahead 21-16 and quickly sealed the second set, 25-19.  

It was all blue-and-gold early in the third as an 11-6 edge blossomed into a double-digit 19-9 cushion. Southern Maine surged back down the stretch with four unanswered points that chipped the deficit down to eight, 24-16, but an attack error by Isabella Smith locked up the win for the Rams.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• McKenna Keowen contributed a 13-kill, 10-dig double-double with four aces, three handouts and a pair of blocks to her credit as well. 
• Weber supplied seven kills on a .545 attack percentage. 
• Cervenka chipped in five kills, two digs, two blocks and one ace. 
• Jayla Martinez and Aislinn Lanigan set up the attack with 15 handouts and 13 assists, respectively. The former added three kills, two aces and one dig, while the latter pitched in three digs and a pair of aces. 
• Tatum Kalt logged 10 digs, one ace and one assist. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk has defeated Southern Maine in back-to-back battles to move to 2-3 all-time against the Huskies. 
• The Rams moved to 2-1 against the Huskies under Scott Blanchard's guidance. 
• The blue-and-gold hosted the Huskies for the second time, first since Oct. 23, 2018. 
• Suffolk defeated USM as the home team for the first time.
• Four matches between Suffolk and USM have been decided in straight sets. The Rams are now 2-2 in such outings. 
• Both of the blue-and-gold's wins over Southern Maine have come in straight sets. 
• Keowen logged her 700th kill in the victory. She is the third-ever Ram to produce 700-plus kills in her collegiate career, first since the program's all-time leader Hannah Fabiano achieved the feat in 2019. 
• Keowen is now 24 kills shy of Suffolk's all-time record of 726 held by current assistant coach Fabiano.  
• Keowen had her ninth collegiate double-double, fourth of the season.  

WHAT'S NEXT?

Suffolk hits the road Thursday, Sept. 28 for a tangle at Framingham State. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m.