GORHAM, Maine -- The Bates volleyball team started their 2026 season with a strong showing, defeating the University of Southern Maine 3-0 (25-19, 25-10, 25-14) Tuesday night at Hill Gym.
Juniors
Anaïs Reneaum (San Diego, Calif.) and team captain
Malina Young (Redondo Beach, Calif.) paced the Bobcats (1-0) with nine kills apiece. First-year
Alice Fischer (Olympia, Wash.) dished out 20 assists, more than the entire Southern Maine team combined. Junior captain
Lauren Croom (Overland Park, Kan.) added 12 assists and a match-high three service aces. Senior
Isabel Bettencourt (Peabody, Mass.) chipped in 13 digs.
Down 8-6 in the first set, the Bobcats ripped off five straight points, capped off by a kill from junior
Elle Faris (Colusa, Calif.) to make the score 11-8. Up 12-10, a 5-0 run put some distance between Bates and USM. A Young kill on an assist from Bettencourt extended the lead to 17-10. The Huskies (1-4) got to within four points at 22-18 before kills from Fischer and Faris along with a block from Renaum helped secure the first set.
With the score tied at five in the second set, the Bobcats went on a 6-0 run capped off by a kill from junior
Kate Norry (Durham, N.C.) to take control. Then a 12-0 run started by a kill from Young made the set a lopsided affair, as Bates went up 24-7.
In the third set, the Bobcats and Huskies stood tied at seven before Bates went on a 6-0 run thanks to kills from Norry, sophomore
Jordan Blackburn (Baltimore, Md.), and Young, along with a service ace from Faris, to go up 13-7. The Huskies got no closer than within five points the rest of the way.
Bates is back in action this Friday when the Bobcats visit Endicott for a match that gets underway at 6 p.m.
