Endicott Claims Wins Over Southern Me. and Smith at Brandeis Invitational

WALTHAM, Mass. – The Endicott women's volleyball team picked up a pair of wins on Saturday to improve to 3-1 on the young season. The Gulls were able to rally from a 1-0 deficit and escape a tight fourth set against Southern Me. to claim a 3-1 win in the morning, before sweeping Smith to end the tournament in the afternoon.

For her efforts on the weekend, senior outside Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.), was named to the Brandeis Invitational All-Tournament Team. The rest of the All-Tournament Team was as follows:

Yvette Cho, Brandeis
Elizabeth Cameron, Babson
Brylee Frank, JWU
Brianna Wojtas, PSU
Jillian Ward, RIC
Maca Rojas, Smith
Megan Nilson, USM
Yasmine Reece, Wellesley

MATCH ONE: Endicott 3 Southern Maine 1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-14, 27-25)

Endicott fell behind after dropping a tough first set 25-23 and then rallied with two dominant sets in the second and third to stake a 2-1 lead as they looked to take the match in the fourth. The Huskies would not go quietly and forced extra points before the Gulls took the set 27-25 and the match, 3-1.

BEHIND THE BOX

• McIntyre set the tone in the match for the Gulls, picking up a team-best 17 kills on 36 swings with just two errors to hit .417. The senior also added to the defensive effort with seven digs in the contest.
• Junior pin Lauren Sheehan (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) was also outstanding, hitting at a .533 clips with 10 kills on just 15 swings to go along with two assists and two assist blocks.
• Fellow pin hitters Jayla Brennen (Litchfield, N.H.) and Emma Mancini (Lynnfield, Mass.) combined to pick up 16 kills on 31 swings, with Mancini picking up nine of those as both players hit over .300.
• Setters Mareena Clotfelter (Poulsbo, Wash.) and Zoey Gifford (Natick, Mass.) guided the Endicott attack  to a .355 average as a team as Clotfelter collected a team-best 26 assists while Gifford set a carrer-best with 23.
• Sophomore middle Erica Hadad (Windham, N.H.) was efficient in the middle, picking up four kills on five attempts to go with a team-high three assist blocks.

MATCH TWO: Endicott 3 Smith 0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-12)

The Gulls were able to again use a potent attack to sweep the Pioneers of Smit 3-0. Endicott hit .358 as a team, committing just eight hitting errors for the entire match. The Gulls were also aggressive from the service line, posting 11 aces in the three set win as the team saw a myriad of players contribute to the win.

BEYOND THE BOX

• McIntyre and Mancini tied for the team-high in kills with six as both did so in just two sets played. McIntyre also picked up four digs while Mancini's six kills came on 10 error-free swings.
• Alex Dippel (St. Petersburg, Russia) posted five kills on seven error-free swings to go along with two aces and four digs in just one set played on the outside.
• Setter Emma Jutras (Cranston, R.I.) posted 11 assists and one ace in two sets played while fellow freshman Remi Quesnelle (Sunderland, Mass.) notched three kills and six digs in her collegiate debut.
• Freshman defensive specialist Mackenzie Kennedy (Andover, Mass.) impressed with three aces and three digs in one set of action.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Gulls open up their 2016 home schedule with three home matches next week. Endicott hosts North Shore rival Salem State at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday before hosting Tufts and Bates on Friday in round one of the MIT Invitational (hosted by Endicott).

For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.