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Volleyball Closes Out Regular Season with 3-0 Sweep Over Stony Brook
Nov. 13, 2005
ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine volleyball team closed out the 2005 regular season on Sunday afternoon by downing Stony Brook, 3-0, at Memorial Gym in Orono. The Black Bears, who improved to 11-12 overall and 8-4 in America East, won by scores of 30-24, 30-23 and 30-17. Stony Brook finished with an 11-17 mark and a 5-7 record in the conference. Both teams will now get set to take part in the America East Tournament next weekend in Albany. Maine earned the No. 3-seed in the tournament and will face No. 2-seed Binghamton at 8 p.m., Friday night, at the University Gymnasium. Both teams teams split in their two matches this season with both winning on their home courts. Stony Brook earned the No. 4-seed and will face top-seeded Albany at 5:30 p.m., in the night's first contest. Maine closed out the regular season strong by winning 10 of its last 15 matches after starting the 2005 campaign with a 1-7 mark. The team's resurgence in the last half of the season was led by seniors Leah Guidinger (Prince Albert, Saskatchewan), Kaili Jordan (Raymore, Saskatchewan) and Shannan Fotter (Riverside, Calif.), who were honored after the match on Senior Day. In the win over the Seawolves, Guidinger posted a match-high 15 kills, while Fotter added 11. Fotter also had five blocks, as Guidinger was right behind with four. With the game tied at 12 midway through the first contest, the Black Bears responded by going on a 6-2 run to grab an 18-14 lead. Kills by Guidinger, Fotter and junior Shelly Seipp (Spokane, Wash.) highlighted the run as Maine never trailed the rest of the game in pulling out the six-point win.
The Black Bears continued the strong play in the second game as they built a 17-8 lead midway through. Maine never trailed in the game and used a kill by Jordan to secure the game point and victory.
Maine continued to build on the momentum in the third game, as it raced out to a 3-0 lead, courtesy of back-to-back kills from Guidinger. Just as they did in the second game, the Black Bears never trailed the entire way. A pair of service aces from Jody Connacher (Spokane, Wash.) highlighted the game-three victory, which secured the sweep for Maine. The sweep was the sixth in eight conference wins for Maine this season. |
