Gulls Rally to Pull Off Come From Behind Win Over Coast Guard 3-2

BEVERLY, Mass.- The Endicott women's volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the match and a 10-4 deficit in the fifth set to claim a 3-2 win over Coast Guard on Friday night. With the win, Endicott improves to 16-8 (2-2 CCC) on the season while Coast Guard falls to 13-7 (3-4 NEWMAC).

The Gulls would take a close first set by a 25-21 score as they out-hit the visitors .235 to .091, recording 12 kills with just four errors to 15 kills and 11 errors for the Bears. Coast Guard would take the next two sets by identical 25-23 scores as both teams struggled offensively in the second before gaining traction in the third with the Bears claiming a .214 to .176 advantage. Endicott would storm back in the fourth, notching a 25-18 win to set up a winner take all fifth set to 15.

In the fifth and final set, Coast Guard raced out to an 8-4 lead at the switch, and increased the cushion to five with leads of 11-6 and 12-7 before the Gulls started their comeback. A Bears' serving error up 13-9 would close the gap to 13-10 as Endicott then got kills from Jayla Brennen (Litchfield, N.H.), Mareena Clotfelter (Poulsbo, Wash.) and an attack error from the visitors to tie it at 13 all. With Coast Guard calling a timeout, Endicott junior Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) served up a tough jump-float that induced an over-pass that Lauren Sheehan (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) put home for a 14-13 advantage. Sheehan would then come up big again, putting home a Clotfelter set off the libero's outstretched arm to claim the set 15-13 and match, 3-2, for the Gulls.

BEYOND THE BOX

• Sophomore Cydney Pierce (Santa Barbara, Calif.) set a new career-high in digs with 35, matching Brittany Nolan's ('08) performance on September 28, 2005 against Eastern Nazarene for the fourth single-highest dig performance in Endicott women's volleyball history. The all-time record is held by Ashley Norley ('13) who produced a 41 dig effort against Salve Regina on November 1, 2012.
• The Gulls saw two other players reach double-digit dig totals as Clotfelter and McIntyre did so in double-double performances. Clotfelter recorded 23 assists and 14 digs while McIntyre notched 11 kills and 13 digs in the win.
• Lauren Sheehan led the Gulls with 14 kills as Brennen led in average, hitting at a .312 clip after racking up seven kills on 16 swings. Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.) tied Clotfelter with 23 assists to lead Endicott to a .151 average on the night.
• The 12.0 team blocks were the program's highest single-match total since a 13.0 block effort in the team's 3-1 loss to Wellesley on September 1, 2012. The Gulls were led by middle Kelli Sugrue (Tewksbury, Mass.) who recorded eight assist blocks while adding four kills.

FOR THE FOES

• Setter Maggie Hine (Richmond, Va.) was spectacular, tying a career-high in assists with 51 while adding 12 digs and two aces. The 51 digs tied a career high that she set earlier this season in the team's 3-2 win over Trinity.
• Sophomore middle Madison Scott (Lusby, Md.) led the Bears with 17 kills and eight total blocks (1 solo, 7 assist) on the night. Scott hit at a .400 clip, picking up her 17 kills on 35 attempts while committing just three errors.
• Libero Michelle McGill (Atlantic Beach, Fla.) finished the match with 23 digs to lead five Bears in double-digits dig totals. She was joined by Hine with 12, outside Susan West (Jacksonville Beach, Fla.) and defensive specialist Michelle Hernandez (Folsom, Calif.) with 11 and defensive specialist Emily Gilland (Daleville, Ind.) with 10.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott is off until Wednesday of next week when they travel north to Biddeford, Maine to take on the University of New England at 7:00 p.m. in CCC action. Coast Guard has a quick turnaround as they take on Lasell at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow night in Newton, Mass. 

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