Endicott Sweeps Eastern Nazarene to Improve to 3-2 in CCC Play

QUINCY, Mass.- Looking to move back above .500 in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play, the Endicott women's volleyball team traveled to Eastern Nazarene and earned a 3-0 sweep to improve to 3-2 in CCC action.  With the win, Endicott improves to 12-14 (3-2 CCC) on the season and has a chance to move to an even .500 on the season as they host Curry and Salem State for a tri-match this Saturday.  Matches will be played at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.  

The Gulls took the match with set scores of 25-18, 25-7 and 25-18 to claim their eighth sweep of the season.  Endicott out-hit the hosts .312 to -.011 on the night while earning 43.0 points to 28.0 for Eastern Nazarene.  Endicott also played stellar defense, out-digging the Lions 45 to 34 and out-blocking them 2.0 to 0.  

Sophomore middle Hayley Knapp (Valencia, Calif.) led the team with 10 kills as she hit at a .400 clip (10-4-15).  Setter Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.) dished out a match high 27 assists as Endicott recorded 35 kills as a team in the match.  Enjoying error-free evenings were sophomore Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.), Lexi Watts (San Diego, Calif.), Jayla Brennen (Litchfield, N.H.) and Elyse Morgan (Holbrook, Mass.) as the four players combined to post 14 kills on 40 swings for a .350 average.  McIntyre (4-0-16, .250) paired her kills with an ace and seven digs while Watts (5-0-13, .385) also chipped in three digs and an assist block.  Brennen (3-0-3, 1.000) was the only player with a perfect hitting percentage as Morgan (2-0-8, .250) added a dig to her stat line.  Erika Trudon was fantastic defensively, picking  up a match high 17 digs to give her an average of 5.40 digs/set on the night.  Cydney Pierce (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Jessica Petrucci (Cape Coral, Fla.) finished the evening with eight and six digs respectively. 

For the Lion,s Kortney Jenkins (Bunker Hill, W.Va.) tallied a team-best 13 kills while adding eight digs on the night. Kayla Dean (Lansdale, Pa.) posted four kills and six digs and Oksana DiCamillo (Nottingham Township, Pa.) led Eastern Nazarene with 12 digs in the match.

Endicott improves to 15-5 all-time against Eastern Nazarene and has not dropped a match since 2003, giving the Gulls 13 straight victories.  Endicott is now 12-14 (3-2 CCC) on the season and has a chance to move to an even .500 on the season as they host Curry and Salem State for a tri-match this Saturday.  Matches will be played at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.  Eastern Nazarene falls to 3-21 (1-5 CCC) on the season as the Lions travel to Gordon on Saturday in CCC play.