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This past weekend, the UMaine volleyball team traveled to Milwaukee, Wis., to compete in the “Battle of the Birds” tournament. On Friday, the Black Bears dropped a tough match to Marquette by a score of 3-1, but on Saturday, Maine was able to rebound, winning a battle against South Dakota 3-2. Closing out the season with a win, UMaine pulled their record to 4-23.
The Black Bears exhibited their authority from the opening serve. A key 11-3 run let them build a 19-10 lead in the middle of the first game. They rode this momentum to an easy 30-17 win, during which they out-killed the Eagles 15-9.
The second game remained close throughout. The score was never separated by more than four points, and the teams found themselves tied 29-29. With the requirement to win by two, Rabbecka Gonyo scored a big kill to put the Eagles ahead. A receiving error on the Black Bears on the following point gave the Marquette the second game victory.
The third game saw Marquette steal the momentum, racking up 19 kills to UMaine’s 12. The Black Bears hung around, trailing only 22-19, but any hope of a comeback was quickly doused by a spree of six unanswered points by the Eagles. This turned out to be too much to overcome, and Maine fell by a score of 30-21.
With their backs against the wall, the Black Bears were not about to go down without a fight. They battled hard to get to knot the score at 29. Marquette scored a point, but UMaine’s Lindsay Allman came up with a big kill to tie it up again. After exchanging points, the Eagles got consecutive kills from Jenn Brown and Kimberley Todd to close out the game 33-31 and take the match.
While UMaine couldn’t win the tight ones, they still had some impressive individual performances. Their serving was top notch, as they tallied 11 aces to Marquette’s two. Allman registered a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs, and Margaret Page added 11 kills of her own. Laura Goettsch and Paige Tortorello were big-time contributors with 14 digs and 37 assists, respectively.
The next day, UMaine looked to rebound against South Dakota in the consolation match. In the first game, UMaine lead by just one at 24-23. They turned up the intensity and completed a five-point streak, leading to a 30-24 victory. South Dakota came back fighting and caught Maine on their heels in the second game. Using a key 5-0 run mid-game, the Jackrabbits ran with it and won 30-16.
The momentum continued to bounce back and forth in the following games. UMaine strung together several good passing plays, out-killing South Dakota 16-11 en route to a 30-21 victory. UMaine’s Allman was a huge factor in this game, registering several big kills to stomp out any chance of a comeback.
UMaine looked to close out the Jackrabbits, but South Dakota wasn’t ready to go home quite yet. Behind a 10-1 run, the Jackrabbits rolled past the Black Bears 30-23 to force a fifth and final game to decide the match.
Holding a slim lead of 8-6, UMaine had a few big plays, including two kills by Allman that built their lead to 13-8. Back-to-back kills by Amanda Armstrong and Page closed out the game and gave the Black Bears one of their hardest-earned victories of the year.
Allman had a spectacular game to lead Maine. She registered 19 kills and 20 digs, both match-highs. Goettsch added a double-double of her own, with 11 kills and 18 digs. Page and Armstrong added to the kill party, registering 14 and 12 apiece. Tortorello tallied 55 assists, a match high, and Brittany Kiehl was huge defensively with five blocks.
The Black Bears ended the season 2-9 in conference play, beating out Hartford for sixth place. The team looks promising for next year, returning all their players for the 2008 season.
Bangor Daily News