Gulls Finish Leo Invitational After Going 1-1 On Day Two; Knapp Named to All-Tournament Team

CLAREMONT, Calif.-  Competing in the second day of the Leo Invitational, the Endicott women's volleyball team was able to go 1-1 on the day, defeating Whittier via a 3-0 sweep before falling to host Pomona-Pitzer in the same fashion.  With the 1-1 day, Endicott finishes the Leo Invitational with a 1-3 record, evening their 2014 record at 11-11 (2-1 CCC) on the season.  The Gulls now return home and await a Wednesday night CCC match against Salve Regina in a battle of one loss teams in conference play.  

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM

Hayley Knapp - Endicott
Kelsi Robinson - La Verne
Brittany Yaxley - La Verne
Kassandra Buseck - Nazareth
Maria Allacco - Nazareth
Allie Frappier - Pomona-Pitzer
Alex Lambert - Virginia Wesleyan 

MATCH ONE:  Endicott 3 - Whittier 0

In the third match of the weekend, Endicott squared off against the Poets of Whittier and claimed a win via a 3-0 sweep.  The Gulls earned the sweep via set scores of 25-18, 25-15, 25-19 to garner their first win of the Leo Invitational.  Endicott out-hit the California school .272-.114 and earned 55.0 points to Whittier's 39.0 to raise their record to 11-10 on the season.

The Gulls were led at the net by the offensive play of Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) as the sophomore led the match with 16 kills and a .394 average (16-3-33).  She was joined by Lexi Watts (San Diego, Calif.), Elise Morgan (Holbrook, Mass.) and Hayley Knapp (Valencia, Calif.) who all had solid offensive performances.  Watts, a junior opposite, picked up seven kills (7-2-17), Morgan recorded six (6-1-19) and Knapp chipped in five (5-1-13).  Each player hit .263 or higher and helped lead the Gulls to their .272 team average.  

Running the effective offense was junior Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.) who finished with 38 assists in the win, averaging just a tick under 13 assists/set.  The setter also showcased her all-around game, chipping in an ace, two assist blocks and seven digs.  Her seven digs tied her for the third highest dig total on the team behind Erika Trudon (Coventry, Conn.) and Cydney Pierce (Santa Barbara, Calif.).  Trudon again led the team with 15 digs in the sweep, just one off of the match high.  Pierce was just behind, finishing with 12 of her own to go along with a match high three aces as senior Jessica Petrucci (Cape Coral, Fla.) finished tied with VandeMerkt with seven.  

MATCH TWO:  Endicott 0 - Pomona-Pitzer 3

The second match of the day and final of the Leo Invitational for the Gulls, pit the team against the host Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer, a squad that entered the match with a 12-7 record in 2014.  The Gulls would fall in three straight by scores of 19-25, 19-25, 10-25, to even their record at 11-11 on the season while Pomona-Pitzer improved to 13-7.  

Endicott's offense struggled for the most part, mustering just a .127 average compared to .385 for the hosts.  Leading the way for Endicott offensively were Morgan and Knapp as the duo combined for 21 of the team's 34 kills.  Morgan pieced together an 11-4-29 (.241) line from the outside while Knapp continued her strong weekend in the middle, hitting .222 with a 10-4-27 line.  Freshman Lauren Sheehan (Bainbridge, Wash.) also came in and played well, hitting .750 (3-0-4) in limited action.  VandeMerkt continued her solid day, dishing out 30 more assists in the match to go along with three digs.

Leading the way defensively was McIntyre who picked up a team high 10 digs in the setback.  Petrucci and Trudon chipped in six and five respectively while Kelli Sugrue (Tewksbury, Mass.) was solid defensively at the net, leading the team with two assist blocks to pair with her five kills.

With the win and the loss, Endicott closed the Invitational with a 1-3 record, and evens their record at 11-11 (2-1 CCC) on the season.  Whittier, a team that went 1-2 over the tournament, fell to 6-11 on the season with the loss to Endicott while Pomona-Pitzer improved to 13-7 with the win over the visiting Gulls.  After a bit more sight seeing, Endicott will return home to the friendly confines of the MacDonald Gymnasium to await a Wednesday night match against Salve Regina in a battle of one loss teams in conference play.  Start time for the bout is set for 7:00 pm.