Women's Volleyball Wins Five Set Thriller Over Wellesley in 2014 Opener

WELLESLEY, Mass.- Looking to kick off their 2014 campaign with a win and avenge a 2013 loss to Wellesley, the Endicott women's volleyball team was able to pull out a 3-2 victory behind standout performances from multiple players.  The win moves the Gulls to 1-0 on the young season and now sees them with nearly a week to prepare for the 2014 Endicott Invitational which begins Friday night at 5:00 p.m. with a match against Babson. Wellesley falls to 0-1 on the season and is also off until next Friday when they travel to Brandeis for the Brandeis Invitational. 

After dropping a tight opening set 23-25, the Gulls regained composure to record a 25-20 second set win to even the score at one set a piece.  The Blue would storm back to take the third set by way of a 17-25 score before Endicott dominated the fourth 25-12 to force a fifth and deciding set.  In the fifth, the Gulls would ride the momentum from their fourth set performance to win 15-7 and take the 3-2 victory.  

Endicott received stellar performances from returners Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.), Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) and Erika Trudon (Coventry, Conn.) and also from new-comer Elise Morgan (Holbrook, Mass.) to claim the win.  VandeMerkt led all players with a match high 43 assists and added 16 digs to earn her first double-double of the season, one of two for Endicott on the day.  Under her guidance, the Gulls hit at a .201 clip as a team on the match.  The second double-double belonged to McIntyre who tied for the match high in kills with 16 and also picked up 11 digs.  Trudon, who enjoyed a memorable freshman campaign in 2013, picked up right where she left off and was dominant in her libero position, picking up 31 digs, more than any other player on the court.  Freshman Elise Morgan was an offensive force in the middle, hitting at a .355 clip as she recorded 12 kills with just one error on 31 attempts in her Endicott debut.  Morgan also led the Gulls with three total blocks as she tallied one solo and two assist blocks.  

Also playing well were sophomore Hayley Knapp (Valencia, Calif.) and senior Jessica Petrucci (Cape Coral, Fla.).  Knapp put down 12 kills of her own while hitting .257 from the middle while adding two aces.  Petrucci chipped in with 10 digs and was a force from the service line recording a match high and career high six aces on the day.  New comers Cydney Pierce (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Dana Ferraro (Brookfield, Conn.) both made their Endicott debuts and chipped in well for the Gulls as Pierce narrowly missed a double-double herself with eight kills and nine digs while Ferraro had a timely kill in the fifth set to help seal the match for Endicott.  The Gulls aced the Blue 11 times and were aced just twice in the five set thriller.

Wellesley was led offensively by Courtney Lang (Seattle, Wash.) and Caitlin Laughin (St. Louis Park, Minn.) who recorded 16 and 14 kills respectively.  Maddie Koh (Seattle, Wash.) directed the offense with 33 assists as the Blue struggled to hit just .153 on the day.  Wellesley received consistent defensive effort from Lang, Sydney Carfagno (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Katie Yan (Cohoes, N.Y.), all who reached double digit dig totals.  

The win moves the Gulls to 1-0 on the young season and now sees them with nearly a week to prepare for the 2014 Endicott Invitational which begins Friday night at 5:00 p.m. with a match against Babson. Following that match, the Gulls play host to Plymouth State on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. before hosting UMass Boston and Bowdoin on Saturday.  Wellesley falls to 0-1 on the season and is also off until next Friday when they travel to Brandeis for the Brandeis Invitational.