Women’s Volleyball Rallies Past UMass Boston In Five-Set Thriller, 3-2

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women's volleyball team earned a hard-fought 3-2 non-league victory over UMass Boston on Thursday night by scores of 25-20, 16-25, 23-25, 25-23, and 17-15 at MacDonald Gymnasium. 

Down 15-14 in set five, Endicott junior outside hitter Emma Mancini (Lynnfield, Mass.) hammered home a kill from the left side of the net on a pass by Zoey Gifford (Natick, Mass.) to even the score at 15-all and the Gulls never looked back. 

Following the Mancini putaway, Endicott then took the lead on an attack error by UMass Boston and clinched the comeback victory soon after with another Mancini kill (assisted by Gifford) via a blocking error to lock up its eighth straight win of the season. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Mancini paced all Endicott student-athletes with 17 kills on 49 swings (.245 hitting percentage).
• Lauren Sheehan (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) and Alex Dippel (Fallston, Md.) finished tied for second on the team in kills with 12 apiece.
• Gifford posted a match-high 44 assists alongside 12 digs in the win (fourth double-double of the season).
• It also marks the second time this season she has eclipsed the 40-plus assist plateau.
• Defensively, the Gulls compiled 88 assists with Cydney Pierce (Carpinteria, Calif.) and Mackenzie Kennedy (Andover, Mass.) leading the way with 20 and 13, respectively.
• Endicott is 2-0 in five-set matches this year.
• Until their second set loss tonight, the Gulls had not dropped a set against an opponent in 17 straight opportunities.
• Endicott is 3-1 at home this season.
• Both teams made the NCAA Tournament last year (Endicott 22-12 overall | UMass Boston 29-5 overall).
• Endicott holds a 6-4 advantage in the all-time series dating back to 10/14/1993 when Endicott's program became NCAA DIII eligible. 

FOR THE FOES

• Eileen Shi (San Francisco, Calif.) registered a match-high 19 kills on 58 attempts (.224 hitting percentage).
• Emilia Czapiewska (Saint Paul, Minn.) chipped in with 10 kills and 15 digs (second double-double of the season).
• Macayla Chianco (Clearwater, Fla.) had a match-high 40 digs (season-high). Her 40-dig effort also fell two shy of tying the program record for a five-set match (Elizabeth Glavan vs. Stevenson on 9/2/16). 

WHAT'S NEXT 

Endicott (10-5) hosts Roger Williams this Saturday in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) matchup at 2 PM. UMass Boston (6-8) takes on Coast Guard Academy and Babson College in a tri-match hosted by Babson this Saturday at 1 & 3 PM. 

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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)