CCC Title Run Comes to an End for Women's Volleyball With 3-2 Loss to Gordon

WENHAM, Mass.- The Endicott women's volleyball team traveled across town to take on Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) foe Gordon in the CCC semifinals and fell by a 3-2 final. With the loss, Endicott falls to 22-10 on the season and will await news of a postseason berth while Gordon improves to 21-9 and now advances to the CCC Championship to take on Roger Williams on Saturday.

A tight battle from beginning to end, the Scots would take the first two sets by a combined four points, 26-24 and 25-23 before the Gulls evened the match at 2-2 by taking the third and fourth 25-23 and 25-22. As was consistent with the rest of the match, the fifth set would prove to be a rollercoaster as well with Gordon finally claiming a 16-14 win.

Both offenses struggled to find their footing all night long, with Gordon eventually holding a .117 to .092 edge in team hitting percentage. The Gulls hit .208 in the fourth, their best output of the night while the Scots save their best for last, hitting .214 in the fifth and final set. The defenses from each side played a major role in limiting the opposing offense as the Scots finished with 133 digs while Endicott finished with 129.

BEYOND THE BOX

• CCC Player of the Year Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) led Endicott in kills (20) and hitting percentage (.187) and finished  second in aces (2) and third on the team in digs (18). The 20 kills are a new career-high, edging her previous personal best of 18 that she produced in a five set loss to Bowdoin earlier this year.
• Opposite Lexi Watts (San Diego, Calif.) and outside Emma Mancini (Lynnfield, Mass.) tied for second on the team with 10 kills each as Watts hit at a .184 clip to go along with six digs and two total blocks while Mancini hit .152 and added a career-best 16 digs.
• Setter Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.) finished with yet another double-double, posting 38 assists and 12 digs in the setback. With her performance, VandeMerkt became just the second player in Endicott history to eclipse the 4,000 career assist mark as her total while dawning an Endicott uniform now sits at 4,018.
• Fellow setter Mareena Clotfelter (Poulsbo, Wash.) closed with 16 digs and eight assists as she operated the majority of the match as a defensive specialist.
• Leading the defensive effort was Cydney Pierce (Santa Barbara, Calif.) who closed with a team-high 25 digs to go along with three assists and an ace. Finishing just behind her was junior Lily Benabou (Medway, Mass.) with 22 digs.

FOR THE FOES

• Junior Carleigh Petersen (North Hills, Calif.) finished with a match-best 25 kills to go along with an impressive 24 digs. The Gulls were able to hold her to a .144 average as the outside took 97 swings to lead the match.
• Fellow junior and CCC Libero of the Year Maggie Risma (Hudson, Ohio) was lights-out defensively, recording 42 digs in the win. The 42 digs give her 86 against Endicott on the season as she posted a career-best 44 against the Gulls during the regular season.
• Setter Renee Cooprider (Hopkinton, Mass.) finished with 50 assists in the win. The junior also chipped in seven kills on 10 attempts and 15 digs as she eclipsed the 50 assist plateau for the fourth time this year. Her sister, Kristen Cooprider (Hopkinton, Mass.) was a defensive standout, finishing with 31 digs, good for second in the match.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott, now 22-10, awaits news of a postseason berth while Gordon, 21-9, advances to the CCC Championship to take on Roger Williams on Saturday. 

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