Box Score UMFK soured Senior Day for UMPI's Molly Lindsey and Shannon Brown, taking a pair of matches at Wieden Gymnasium Wednesday evening 3-0, 3-0.
The first game of match one was an exciting back and forth match that saw the #6 USCAA ranked Bengals take an early lead, but the Owls would fight back behind a strong streak of Katie Patenaude serves to within one point at 18-17. A UMFK timeout would stop the bleeding for the Bengals and they scored 7 of the last 8 points to take the game 25-18 going away.
Game two went UMFK's way 25-13 and despite another strong serving effort from Owl junior Amanda Allen, game three went to the Bengals as well, 25-16.
Presque Isle could not stop the athletic efforts of junior Tiara Nolen and classmate Hope Grace on the attack. Nolen had 9 kills for match one and outside hitter Grace had 6 kills and a .429 kill percentage. Senior setter Jessekah McCorkle was outstanding controlling the attacking efforts of the Bengals, finishing with a match-high 25 assists.
Brown celebrated her senior day performance by registering 8 kills and 8 digs. Junior Morgan Swan had 9 assists and 7 digs for the Owls. Lindsey added 8 digs.
The Bengals started match two where they left off, hitting on all strides offensively and manhandling the Owl frontline, taking game one without much opposition 25-9. Game two saw the Owls gather their bearing and compete at a higher level. Leslie Theriault was inserted into the lineup and provided some additional blocking and an offensive presence that brought the Owls closer, dropping the game 25-13.
In game three the Owls again showed their collective talons, scraping and clawing back to make the game exciting. The upgraded effort saw 5 Owls with multiple kills and a much better team effort in a game, but losing performance 25-19.
McCorkle had 12 assists and Nolen tallied a match-high 7 kills for UMFK. Swan had 5 assists, Patenaude a team-high 3 kills and Sophomore Abby Jewett had 2 kills and 8 digs for Presque Isle.
UMFK moves to 16-3 on the season and the 0-15 Owls will attempt to garner their first victory of the season at a tri-match hosted by UMaine-Machias on Saturday, October 4th.
