Tufts Turns Away Women’s Volleyball, 3-1

MEDFORD, Mass. – The Endicott women's volleyball team fell to Tufts University, 3-1, by scores of 25-18, 19-25, 25-13, and 25-14 on Wednesday night at Cousens Gym.

Tufts hit over .220 in three out of four sets and also held Endicott to a .104 hitting percentage overall on the night to pick up its fourth victory in its last five matches.

Endicott junior outside hitter Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) fell one kill shy of recording her sixth double-double of the season with nine putaways and ten digs. Lexi Watts (Rancho Bernardo, Calif.), Lauren Sheehan (Bainbridge Island, Wash.), and Jayla Brennen (Litchfield, N.H.) all contributed four kills apiece in the loss.

Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.) ran the offense with a team-high 14 assists, while Mareena Clotfelter (Poulsbo, Wash.) dished out 12 assists to aid the attack. Reigning CCC Libero of the Week Cydney Pierce (Carpinteria, Calif.) guided the back row with a team-high 16 digs. Junior outside Lilly Benabou (Medway, Mass.) also chipped in with ten digs (her fifth double-digit output this season).

Tonight's match featured seven tied scores and two lead changes in the first two sets before Tufts took over down the stretch. Both teams only fashioned one other tie the rest of the way, and it came with the score knotted at 1-1 in the final set.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Pierce now has ten or more digs in 16 out of 19 matches this season after posting 16 tonight.
• Tufts holds an 11-3 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 2002.
• McIntyre has led the Gulls in kills in ten out of 19 matches this year.

FOR THE FOES

• Senior Maddie Kuppe (Palo Alto, Calif.) paced all student-athletes with 14 kills and 16 digs. Kuppe now has five double-doubles on the season.
• Mackenzie Bright (Duxbury, Mass.) registered nine kills on 22 swings for a .227 hitting percentage.
• Elizabth Ahrens (Richmond, Va.) tallied eight kills (.350 hitting percentage), eight digs, and three service aces.
• Freshman Angela Yu (Austin, Texas) notched 18 assists and nine digs, while Kyra Baum (Boca Raton, Fla.) led all student-athletes with a match-high 19 assists to go along with 14 digs.
• Baum now has two double-doubles in 2015.
• Sophomore Alexandra Garrett (Allendale, N.J.) compiled a season-high seven services in addition to her 16 digs. Garrett's career-high in services aces is eight, which came against Framingham State University on September 27, 2014.
• The Jumbos sent home a season-high 13 services aces in the win. Tufts' previous season-high was 11 against UMass Dartmouth on September 26.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Gulls (12-7) will host the Endicott Invitational this Friday and Saturday. Endicott will take on Colby-Sawyer on Friday at 6 p.m. and Moravian (12 PM) and Babson (2 PM) on Saturday. Tufts (10-4) hosts Bates on Friday at 7 p.m. 

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