VandeMerkt Earns All-Tournament Honors; Gulls Drop Pair to Regional Powers

BEVERLY, Mass.-  On day two of the 2014 Endicott Women's Volleyball Invitational the Gulls dropped a pair of four set losses to fall to 2-3 on the season.  Endicott fell to UMass Boston in their first match of the day before falling to Bowdoin to wrap up the Invitational.  The Gulls now look forward to Wednesday as they travel to Boston, Mass. to square off against Emerson.

MATCH 1- Endicott 1 UMass Boston 3

In the first match of the days, the Gulls played host to the Beacons of UMass Boston, a program the won the NCAA DIII New England Regional in 2013.  Endicott, who was looking to defeat UMass for the second consecutive season, would struggle offensively on the match and fall in four, 25-23, 20-25, 19-25 and 13-25.

Against the Beacons, the Gulls were led by junior setter Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.)  as she racked up 30 assists and 15 digs in the setback.  VandeMerkt picked up her second double-double of the season as her defensive efforts helped hold UMass Boston to a .166 average.  Vandemerkt's solid play led to three players record eight or more kills in Lexi Watts (San Diego, Calif.), Elise Morgan (Holbrook, N.H.) and Hayley Knapp (Valencia, Calif.).  Knapp would record a team high 11 kills on 28 swings while Morgan led the Gulls with a .185 clip as she picked up 8 kills on 27 attempts.  Morgan also pitched in with three solo blocks.

Endicott fought as hard as they could on defense as they saw five players break into double digit dig totals.  VandeMerkt, Erika Trudon (Coventry, Conn.), Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Cali.f), Cydney Pierce (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Jessica Petrucci (Cape Coral, Fla.) all recorded at least 10 digs as Trudon and VandeMerkt tied for the team high with 15 each.

The Beacons were led offensively by sophomore Julia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) who notched a team and match high 11 kills on 26 swings for a .346 clip.  She added four aces, six digs, one solo and three assist blocks to her standout performance.  The Beacons' attack was guided by the 6-2 setters of Pepper Baker (Tallahassee, Fla.) and Emma Rocha (Boynton Beach, Fla.) as the duo combined for 37 assists, 25 of those going to Rocha.  Both recorded double-double performances as Baker added 12 digs to go along with her 12 assists while Rocha picked up 10 digs of her own.  Baker nearly clinched a triple-double as she also collected seven digs in the win.

MATCH 2- Endicott 1 Bowdoin 3

In the second match of the day, Endicott would come up short against a potent Bowdoin offense, losing 3-1 by scores of 25-22, 18-25, 12-25 and 17-25.  The Polar Bears were able to hit over .350 in two of the four sets, hitting an even .200 for the match while Endicott could muster just a .059 average. 

VandeMerkt again led the Gulls in defeat as she recorded her third double-double performance of the season via 29 assists and 16 digs.  Junior Lexi Watts recorded her season high 12 kills on 32 swings in the loss, leading the team in kills and attack percentage with a .219 average.  Freshman Lauren Sheehan (Bainbridge, Wash.) finished second on the team in kills and average with six kills at a .200 clip.

The Gulls were once again impressive defensively as four players recorded double-digit dig totals, led by VandeMerkt's 16.  Freshman Cydney Pierce tied sophomore Erika Trudon with 14 digs each while Tori McIntyre rounded out the group with 10 of her own.

The Polar Bears put forth a balanced effort on both ends of the court to claim the three set win.  The visitors saw three players record double-doubles in Quincy Leech (Durham, N.C.), Katie Doherty (Menlo Park, Calif.) and Christy Jewett (Sunnyvale, Calif.) while earning 74 points to Endicott 48.  Leech split setting duties and tallied 27 assists and 12 digs in the win, while Doherty and Jewett both impressed offensively.  Doherty picked up 11 kills and 19 digs to go along with four assists and four aces while Jewett picked up a match high 15 kills to pair with 10 digs and five assist blocks in the victory.  Also putting forth a solid effort was Erika Sklaver (Miami Beach, Fla.) who led the Polar Bears with a .435 average (12-2-23) and seven assist blocks.

The Gulls (2-3), take on Emerson on Wednesday before returning home Friday to host one group of the MIT Invitational.  The Polar Bears (4-0) play host to the University of New England Tuesday before heading to Atlanta, Ga. for Emory Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

2014 Endicott Invitational All-Tournament Team

Endicott- Alleigh VandeMerkt (Jr., S)
Babson- Mary Donahue (Jr., OH)
Bowdoin- Katie Doherty (So., OH)
NYU- Zoe Prince (Fr., OPP)
Plymouth State- Kirsten Perrotta (Jr., S)
Roger Williams- Elizabeth Flaherty (Jr., OH) 
SUNY Canton- Morgan Bills (Jr., M/OPP)
UMass Boston- Elizabeth Glavan (So., L)