Gulls Win Endicott Invitational; McIntyre Named MVP, Pierce All-Tournament

Final Standings: 

Endicott 3-0
Babson 2-1
Moravian 1-2
Colby-Sawyer 0-3

All Tournament:

BEVERLY, Mass.- The Endicott women's volleyball team posted a 3-1 win over Moravian in the first match of the day and then recorded a sweep of Babson to go 3-0 on the weekend and claim the Endicott Invitational title.  Endicott now improves to 15-7 (2-1 CCC) on the season as they travel to Gordon on Tuesday.

Endicott was led all weekend by junior outside Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) who was named Tournament MVP for her efforts. McIntyre was on fire Saturday, posting back-to-back 13 kill efforts while also recording 27 digs. In the second match of the tournament against Moravian, the outside posted a 13-4-41 (.220) line while also picking up 18 digs and two digs. She then followed that performance up with a 13-1-40 (.300) match against Babson, the #9 team in the region in the most recent NEWVA poll. The junior added nine digs and a block assist in the win.

Joining McIntyre on the All-Tournament Team was libero Cydney Pierce (Santa Barbara, Calif.). Pierce, the reigning CCC and ECAC Libero of the Week, averaged 4.70 digs per set as the posted 19 in the four set win over Moravian and 16 in the sweep of Babson. The sophomore added five aces and five assists on Saturday.

Endicott's setting tandem of Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.) and Mareena Clotfelter (Poulsbo, Wash.) ran an extremely efficient offense all weekend that hit .220 collectively over the three wins. Against Moravian, VandeMerkt and Clotfelter each notched 20 assists while VandeMerkt added two assists and Clotfelter chipped in 11 digs. In the team's win over Babson, VandeMerkt led with 16 assists and nine digs while Clotfelter was close behind, picking up 14 digs and six assists.

BEYOND THE BOXES

• On the weekend, sophomore Lauren Sheehan (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) registered 25 kills as she hit for a .345 average. The two-time ECAC DIII New England Player of the Week also picked up 16 digs in the wins.
• The win over Moravian was the first time that the two programs have met. The contest featured 764 coaching victories between the two head coaches as Endicott's Tim Byram, in his 16^th season, has now won 308 matches while Moravian's Shelley Bauder, in her 23 years at the helm, has collected 456.
• Endicott's 3-0 sweep of Babson was the first time the Gulls have swept the Beavers since October 21, 2006. In that season, the Gulls went 26-13 overall, 9-0 in CCC play, and claimed their first of three straight CCC titles while also claiming the first NCAA Tournament win in program history with a 3-2 win over Eastern Connecticut State.
• Junior middle Hayley Knapp (Valencia, Calif.) notched 19 kills and a team-high nine blocks on the weekend. Her 19 kills came on a .434 average as she never hit lower than .333 over the three matches.

FOR THE FOES

• Moravian's Megan Skolnicki (Springfield, Pa.) earned All-Tournament honors for her performance on the weekend. The senior setter posted 110 assists on the weekend as she averaged 7.86 assists per set.
• Babson, the Endicott Invitational Runner-Ups saw senior Elizabeth Sullivan (Quincy, Mass.) and junior Jenny Karnes (Houston, Texas) earn All-Tournament honors after leading the Beavers to a 2-1 weekend. For Sullivan, the libero recorded 57 digs in 12 sets played for an average of 4.75 digs per set. Karnes, a middle, recorded two 10-kill matches on the weekend, first in the team's five set win over Moravian, and then in the team's 3-0 loss to Endicott.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott travels across town to Gordon for a pivotal Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) match on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. before returning home to host Coast Guard on Friday at 6:00 p.m. Moravian is back in action on Thursday when they host Widener University at 7:00 p.m. while Babson travels to NEWMAC foe Emerson on Tuesday evening. 

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