Gulls Split Tri-Match; Defeat CCC Foe WNE 3-1, Fall to Colby 3-2

BEVERLY, Mass.- The Endicott women's volleyball team split a pair of decisions on Saturday, defeating Western New England (WNE) 3-1 in a pivotal Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) match to kick off the day before falling to NESCAC foe Colby 3-2 to wrap up the afternoon. With the 1-1 performance, Endicott's record now sits at 18-9 (4-2 CCC).

The Gulls received a pair of double-double performances from Lauren Sheehan (Bainbridge Island, Wash.)  to lead the team in both matches. Sheehan kicked off the day with a 10 kill, 16 dig effort against Western New England before recording 18 kills and 12 digs in the five set loss to Colby.

Joining Sheehan with double-digit dig totals in both matches was Cydney Pierce (Santa Barbara, Calif.) as the libero tied Sheehan for the team-high with 16 against WNE before posting a team-high 25 against Colby, a performance that fell one shy of the match-high of 26.

BEYOND THE BOX – VS. WESTERN NEW ENGLAND

• With the win over the Golden Bears, the Gulls are now 14-4 all-time against their conference opponent. Endicott has now won two straight dating back to last season's 3-2 win in the ECAC DIII New England Semifinals.
• Limiting the errors: Despite WNE recording seven more total kills in the match, Endicott hit at a .135 clip to WNE's .075 by recording 15 less hitting errors. The Gulls also committed one less serving error while picking up two more aces and committed four fewer ball handling errors to preserve a 27-47 edge in errors.
• Endicott's tandem of setters, Mareena Clotfelter (Poulsbo, Wash.) and Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.) posted balanced box scores on the day that saw VandeMerkt collect 13 assists, three aces and eight digs, while Clotfelter finished with a team-high 19 assists, two aces and two digs.
• Endicott's middles, Hayley Knapp (Valencia, Calif.) and Kelli Sugrue (Tewksbury, Mass.) each finished with seven kills while Sugrue tied for the team-high in blocks with four assists and Knapp finished just behind, with three total. Sugrue posted a team-best .357 average on the match while Knapp was second with a .278 performance.

FOR THE FOES – WESTERN NEW ENGLAND

• Percentage-wise, the two best performances of the match for the Golden Bears came from their middles as Carly Skibinski (Milford, N.J.) and Olivia Lathrop (Farmington, Conn.) hit .242 and .238 to lead the visitors. Skibinski finished with a match-high 14 kills in addition to a solo block and four digs while Lathrop chipped in two solos blocks and an assist block to go along with one dig.
• WNE received a match-high 25 dig effort from Emily Woodford (Belchertown, Mass.) as the libero averaged 6.25 digs per set. The 25 digs tied a career-high for the freshman as she previously recorded 25 digs in the team's 3-2 win over Salve Regina.
• Operating in a 6-2, WNE setter's Jenna Leuck (Dumont, N.J.) and Jessica Sincero (Verplanck, N.Y.) combined to post 38 of the team's 44 total assists. Leuck posted a double-double, notching 22 assists and 11 digs while Sincero was one dig away from doing the same, recording 16 assists and nine digs.

BEYOND THE BOX – VS. COLBY

• Endicott falls to 5-2 all-time against the Mules, having suffered their first setback to the NESCAC foe since September 23, 2005 when Endicott lost another five set match. That was the same season that the Mules won the New England regional and advanced to the NCAA DIII Women's Volleyball Round of 16.
• Five out of the seven matches between the two programs all-time have advanced to five sets as Endicott still holds a 3-2 advantage in those maches.
• Sheehan again led the offense with 18 kills as she finished the match with 12 digs, good for fourth on the team. Joining Sheehan with double-double performances were outside Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) and setter Alleigh VandeMerkt. McIntyre finished the match with a team-best .273 average and 10 kills while picking up 14 digs as VandeMerkt recorded a match-high 33 assists while also picking up 10 digs.
• Playing in a defensive role in this match, Clotfelter finished tied for second on the team with 14 digs.

FUN FACT ABOUT THE COACHES

This match had a little extra special meaning to the coaches as they go back together a few years as both graduated from UMaine Farmington in 1994. Endicott head coach Tim Byram served as the best man at Colby head coach Candice Parent's wedding, to her assistant, Mark Parent. Mark also served as the best man at Tim's wedding to his wife, Karen.

FOR THE FOES - COLBY

• The Mules saw three separate players finish the match with 13 kills or more as Kim Donaldson (Colorado Springs, Colo.) led the team with 14 while Sarah Arvidson (Andover, Mass.) and Karolina Serhan (Needham, Mass.) each finished with 13.
• Erin Maidman (Ventura, Calif.) finished with a match-high 26 digs. The 26 digs ties her career-high that she set exactly two weeks ago in the team's 3-1 win over Brandeis.
• Setters Emily Moslener (Leonardtown, Md.) and Molly Manuel (Andover, Mass.) combined to guide the Mules' offense to a .161 average for the match. Moslener tallied 27 assists and 11 digs while Manuel chipped in 20 assists and seven digs of her own.
• Donaldson was also impressive at the net, accounting for five total blocks on the day as she recorded two solo blocks and three assists against the Gulls.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott will travel to Newport, R.I. to take on Salve Regina on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. start before returning home on Saturday, October 31^st to host Eastern Nazarene and St. Joseph's (Conn.) for a regular season ending tri-match for Halloween. Western New England returns home to host Curry in CCC play on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. while Colby travels to Castine, Maine to take on Maine Maritime at the same time.