Before they had played their first America East conference game, the University of Maine women’s volleyball team looked like anything but a league championship contender.

The Black Bears, who advanced all the way to the AE tournament title game last season as a No. 3 seed, returned just three seniors from a 17-11 squad after losing two key players to graduation, had seven freshmen on their 13-member squad, and notched just three wins in their first 11 matches this fall.

Now in her second season at Maine since being hired away from NCAA Division II power Edinboro (Pa.) University, head coach Lynn (Theehs) Atherley wasn’t about to push the panic button.

“We purposely played as tough an out-of-conference schedule as we could with the idea that it might be tough early, but it would pay off in the long run,” said Atherley, whose team faced the likes of Syracuse, Stanford and Minnesota.

Her plan seems to have done just that as the Bears find themselves 3-0 in America East play with a big weekend series looming against conference unbeaten Binghamton (4-0) and Stony Brook University on the road.

“I think because we played such high level competition early, it did force us to bring our game to a higher level and it has made us a better team fairly quickly,” Atherley explained.

The rapid development and maturation of the squad can be traced to the immediate contributions of three freshmen and the improvement of three veterans.

The veterans leading the midseason charge for Maine are senior outside hitter Kaili Jordan, junior setter Shelly Seipp, and junior libero (defensive specialist) Jody Connacher.

“Kaili is playing very solid. Her hitting average has improved tremendously,” said Atherley. “Shelly’s not very big, but she’s running the offense very well. Jodi’s a quiet presence on the team. She doesn’t show up in the stat category, but you notice the difference when she’s on the court.”

Another key veteran is senior middle blocker Shannan Fotter, the AE player of the week for Sept. 26-Oct. 2. She’s third among AE players in hitting percentage at .324 and among the top 10 in three other categories: blocks (tied for ninth with 0.8 per game), points (sixth with 4.15 per game) and kills (seventh with 3.41).

Seipp is third in assists with 10.84 per game and second in service aces with 0.58; Jordan is 10th with 3.56 points per game; and Connacher is fourth in digs with 4.18 per game.

The new kids are showing up among the statistical leaders as well. Amy Lawson, a 6-foot middle blocker from Idaho, is fourth among all AE players with 0.91 blocks per game and Lindsay Allman, a 5-9 outside hitter from Missouri, is ninth with 2.94 digs per game.

The other key newcomer is Ashlee Wright, a 5-6 libero from Indiana who is second on the team with 19 service aces and third in digs with 115, or 2.45 per game.

“It’s a very good mix of older and younger players,” said Atherley. “With so many freshmen, we have a lot more energy and I think we feed off it.

“I would say one of the differences we have is a lot more depth just in terms of sheer numbers. We only had 10 women last year and this year we have 13.”