Southern Me. USM 4-14,2-3 Little East

Plymouth St. Plym 14-3,5-1 Little East

Southern Me. USM

4-14,2-3 Little East

Final

Oct. 12, 2022

Plymouth St. Plym

14-3,5-1 Little East

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Southern Me. USM	25	19	25	19	(1)
Plymouth St. Plym	27	25	23	25	(3)

Summary
Box Score

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 10/12/2022 9:43:00 PM | Christopher J. Kilmer, Assistant Athletics Director, Athletics Communications

VB: Panthers hold off pesky Southern Maine

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Junior Nora Ryan (Groton, Conn.) smashed 13 kills without an error to hit a remarkable .591 as Plymouth State University held off an upset-minded Southern Maine, 3-1 (27-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-19) in a Little East Conference (LEC) women's volleyball match at Foley Gymnasium on Wednesday night.

PSU rallied from a 22-20 deficit in the opening set before a Ryan kill and Huskies' error gave the Panthers a 27-25 win. Plymouth State snapped a 19-19 tied with six straight points in set two to take a 2-0 lead, but Southern Maine didn't fold. In a back-and-forth set, the Huskies took advantage of a ball handling error to earn set point before a kill gave the visitors a 25-23 win to extend the match. The fourth set was similarly competitive with the score tied at 18-apiece. Juniors Anslyee King (Anacortes, Wash.) and Ryley McNeeley (Easton, Mass.) combined for five kills and a block from there, though, as PSU wrapped up the win with a 7-1 surge.

Plymouth State improves to 14-3 (5-1 LEC) and 29-0 all-time against Southern Maine. The Huskies drop to 4-14 and 2-3 in conference play.

The Basics:

Plymouth State 3, Southern Maine 1
- Plymouth State (14-3, 5-1 LEC)
- Southern Maine (4-14, 2-3 LEC)

How it Happened:

Plymouth State got out to a quick 5-0 lead behind a pair of Ryan kills and a smash from senior Natalie Gravelle (Portsmouth, N.H.), but Southern Maine rallied to take a 16-14 lead. The game stayed close from there, tied at 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 until the visitors eked out a 22-20 lead. Trailing 23-22, Gravelle notched back-to-back kills for set point. The teams would trade points until Ryan's kill and a Huskies' error closed out the opening set, 27-25.
Southern Maine maintained a slight lead during the opening stages of set two, but PSU pulled even at 9-9. Sophomore Morgan Drinkwater (Steep Falls, Maine) had a pair of kills and classmate Lindsey Sanderson (Gilford, N.H.) added a kill and a block during a 6-0 run to give the Panthers a 15-10 lead, but USM rallied to pull even at 19-19 to force a PSU timeout. Southern Maine missed the ensuing serve to hand momentum back to the Panthers, though, and McNeeley, Drinkwater and King all recorded kills as Plymouth State ran off six straight points for the 25-19 win.
Set three remained tight throughout, with neither team able to gain more than a two-point advantage. Ryan pounded down several thunderous kills, but the visitors went up 23-19 late. The PSU offense came alive as Sanderson found the floor on an overpass and Ryan crushed a pair of kills as PSU pulled even at 23-23, but a ball handling error and USM kill gave the visitors a 25-23 win.
The fourth set was another nip-and-tuck battle as the teams stayed neck-and-neck throughout. With the score knotted at 18-18, King and McNeeley had back-to-back kills to force a Southern Maine timeout. PSU held the momentum out of the break with a huge block from the pair and kills from McNeeley and Drinkwater to make it 23-18. The Huskies got a point back following their second timeout, but King and McNeeley ended the comeback attempt with consecutive kills for a 25-19 win.

By the Numbers:

Ryan finished with 13 kills without an error, including five in the third set alone, to post a .591 attack percentage. It was her second match this season of at least 12 kills without an error.
Sophomore Lilli Stogner (Weare, N.H.) added 12 kills, with Drinkwater and McNeeley adding ten and nine, respectively.
Stogner added 12 digs and three aces to her stat line, while freshman Riley McDonough (Gilford, N.H.) posted 27 assists and 15 digs.
Sophomore Makayla Marucci (Newton, Mass.) led all players with 17 digs and added nine assists.
PSU finished with a season-high 63 kills and hit .357, .342 and .324 over the final three sets.
Plymouth State has won all 29 meetings between the two teams since the inception of the program in 1996.
With just two league games remaining, the Panthers are tied for the top spot in the LEC with Eastern Connecticut State. The Warriors visit Foley Gymnasium a week from Saturday.