Gulls Falter Against Richard Stockton; Look to Rebound on Day Two of Baruch Invitational

NEW YORK, N.Y.-  Day one of the Baruch Invitational proved to be difficult for the Gulls as they dropped in straight sets to the Ospreys of Richard Stockton.  Set scores were 25-19, 25-13, 25-19.  Endicott's offense struggled to match the potency of the Osprey's as Endicott was outhit .140 to .392.  The Gulls now look to rebound on day two of the tournament as they play host Baruch before taking on Ramapo in the final match.

Endicott put forth their best offensive effort in the first set as they hit at a .206 clip (12-5-34).  From there, the offense would struggle with Richard Stockton's impressive block as they Gulls hit -.050 and .156 the rest of the way.  The Osprey's recorded 14 team blocks as they tallied three solo and 22 assist blocks on the night.  To go along with their impressive blocking stats, the Osprey's picked up 35 digs on the match as well.

Endicott was led offensively by their middles, sophomore Mackenzie Guerre (Carlsbad, Calif.) and freshman Kelli Sugrue (Tewksbury, Mass.).  Guerre hit at a team high .583 clip as she finished the match with a line of 8-1-12.  Sugrue was second on the squad with a .429 clip as she posted a line of 4-1-7.  Senior Callie Dolan (Westford, Mass.) led the team in total kills as she put down 10 kills on 21 swings while hitting at a .238 clip.  Dolan and Sugrue also chipped in with two assist blocks each.  Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.) again led the team in assists as the sophomore collected 28 in the three set loss.  Freshman libero Erika Trudon (Coventry, Conn.) led the team defensively yet again as she was the only Gull to post double digit digs when she finished with 11.  Trudon also led the Gulls with two aces.

Endicott returns to action early tomorrow morning as they take on host Baruch at 11 a.m. before playing Ramapo at 1 p.m.  The Gulls now sit at 7-9 overall and will look to sweep Saturday to get back to .500.