Gulls Top Panthers for First Win of 2013 Season

BEVERLY, Mass.-  Behind stellar offensive efforts from Jackie Cone (Salem, N.H.), Callie Dolan (Westford, Mass.) and Mackenzie Guerre (Carlsbad, Calif.), the Endicott women's volleyball team defeated Plymouth State for the first win of their 2013 season.  The Gulls will take on the Ephs of Williams College following the conclusion of the Williams and Eastern battle.

Endicott surged out to a quick 8-2 lead in the first and seemed to be rolling before the Panthers kicked it into another gear and clawed their way back in the match.  Plymouth State stormed back and held off the Gulls at the end to take an opening set 26-24 victory.  Neither team really found their groove on offense as Plymouth hit .081 while the Gulls swung at a .150 clip.  

Endicott, who seemed like a different team the rest of the way, would go on to win the next three in convincing fashion behind the play of Cone, Dolan and Guerre.  Endicott again raced out to an 8-2 lead and this time held on to take down the visiting Panthers 25-11.  Endicott controlled the set start to finish and dominated offensively to the tune of a .370 percentage.  The Panthers, in comparison, hit -.043. 

The Gulls again came out on fire in the third set as they repeated their offensive outburst and hit .370 for the second straight set while keeping up their defensive focus by holding Plymouth State to a .000 hitting percentage.  The Gulls stifled the opposition with quick defensive movement which in turn frustrated the opposition's hitters and forced them to commit errors.  

The fourth and clinching set proved to be more of the same as Endicott held the opposition to a negative hitting percentage for the second time in the match as Plymouth hit -.040.  The Gulls, in turn, hit .270 behind seven kills on just 20 attempts.  Endicott rode the consistent offense and tough serving to a 25-16 win to seal the 3-1 match win.  

Setter Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.) guided an efficient offense all night as she collected 34 assists on the way to a season high .263 hitting percentage for Endicott.  Cone finished with a match-high 12 kills and only three errors on 23 attempts for a .391 average.  Senior Callie Dolan was right on her heels with 11 kills while finishing with only one error on 20 attempts for an astounding .500 clip.  Sophomore Mackenzie Guerre kept her strong start to the season going as she hit .280 while knocking home 10 kills.  Libero Sierra Kenkel (Kalispell, Mont.) impressed for the Gulls in her first action of the season as she picked up 11 digs to lead the victors.  Freshman Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) put together another solid stat line as she picked up eight kills, nine digs and three aces.  

The visitors from Plymouth were led by Kaitlyn Tedeschi (Pascoag, R.I.) as she put down nine kills en route to a .273 clip.  Fellow senior Cassie Pelton (Brookline, N.H.) put forth an impressive defensive effort as she recorded a match-high 16 digs.  Setter Kirsten Perotta (Hudson, N.H.) put forth a solid effort with 20 assists to lead the Panthers.  

Endicott improves to 1-2 on the young season while Plymouth opens their season with a loss to fall to 0-1.  The Gulls will now take on Williams who is coming off of a five-set thriller over #16 Eastern (Pa.).  Plymouth State moves on to face another CCC opponent in Roger Williams.  Both teams return to action tomorrow morning as Plymouth looks to take on Williams at 10 a.m. while Endicott has a tentative 12 p.m. start time against Eastern.