Mary Deneen had four kills and two blocks in Bates' 3-0 win over Southern Maine on Sept. 15, 2015. (Josh Kuckens/Bates College) 

LEWISTON, Maine -- Junior outside hitter Chandler McGrath collected a career-high 22 kills as the Bates College volleyball team swept the University of Southern Maine 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 26-24) Tuesday night in Alumni Gym, in the Bobcats' home opener.

McGrath (Seal Beach, Calif.) attacked at a .295 rate with nine errors, and had two of Bates' 10 blocks on the night. First-year Claire Naughton (Darien, Conn.) added eight kills, including the final point of the match, with only one error.

Bates took control of the first half, pulling away from a 6-6 score to go up 13-7 with three straight kills by McGrath. The lead grew to 21-12 with sophomore Augy Silver (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) serving four in a row, and McGrath's kill finished the frame.

Bates finished the second set with a 6-2 run to pull away from an 18-18 tie, finishing off the frame with back-to-back service aces by senior Laryssa Schepel (Flemington, N.J.).

The Huskies received consecutive aces by Megan Nilson in the early going of the third set, taking a 4-0 lead. Bates quickly erased it for a 5-4 lead of its own and held a lead or tie from 9-9 on, but couldn't accumulate a lead of more than four points the rest of the way. When the Huskies pulled even at 24-24 on Naughton's lone attack error, the Bobcats responded with McGrath's 22nd kill for a 25-24 lead. Naughton's game-clincher followed, assisted by junior Hannah Tardie (Orange, Calif.).

Tardie led Bates with 23 assists and five service aces, and sophomore Jacqueline Forney (Bloomington, Ind.) added 17 assists for Bates (1-4), while Schepel led the squad with 14 digs.

Jess Williamson had a team-high 10 kills for USM with a .318 hitting percentage, and Mo Raymond added nine on .172. Nicole Schmitz led USM in assists (14) and Demi Ruder had a team-best 10 digs.

Bates hosts Wesleyan University on Friday at 8pm in its NESCAC opener. USM will host St. Joseph's on Thursday at 7pm.