Endicott Offense Too Much to Handle For Wentworth as Gulls Hit .327 as a Team

BOSTON, Mass.- Looking to get back on the winning track, the Endicott women's volleyball team traveled to Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) foe Wentworth on Tuesday and left with a convincing 3-0 sweep of the Leopards.  Endicott out-hit Wentworth .327 to .056 on the night, paving the way for a 25-17, 25-14, 25-14 three set victory to improve to 10-9 (2-1 CCC) on the season while Wentworth fell to 9-9 (2-2 CCC).  Endicott now turns their sites to the west coast as the team will compete at the Leo Invitational hosted by La Verne and Pomona-Pitzer this Friday and Saturday.

Endicott would record 15 kills in the first set on their way to a .273 hitting percentage compared to just seven for Wentworth as the Leopards managed just a .030 average.  That advantage would grow in the second as the Gulls hit .344 (14-3-32) to .067 (9-7-30) for the Leopards.  Endicott would save its best for last, recording an astounding 19 kills in the third on a .361 (19-6-36) average in the third while holding the hosts to a .077 (6-4-26) average.  Endicott's .327 (48-15-101) average for the match set a season high and the 48 kills were just 10 shy of the all-time program record for a three set match.

Leading the way for the Blue and Green was sophomore outside Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) who accumulated 14 kills while hitting a scorching .462 (14-2-26) for the match.  The outside rounded out her impressive performance with five digs and two assist blocks.  McIntyre was joined by Lexi Watts (San Diego, Calif.) as players to hit above .400 as Watts posted a 9-3-14 (.429) line to go along with four assists, one solo block and four assist blocks.  The former high school teammates finished as the top two in points earned with 15 and 12 respectively.

Junior Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.) was outstanding, guiding the offense to its .327 clip as she dished out a match high 37 assists.  Her 12.3 assists/set average tied a season high and were joined by three kills on five error free attacks and five digs.  Sophomore libero Erika Trudon (Coventry, Conn.) was equally impressive on the defensive side of the ball, picking up 16 digs in the victory.  Also enjoying success defensively were senior Jessica Petrucci (Cape Coral, Fla.) and freshman Cydney Pierce (Santa Barbara, Calif.) who picked up eight and six digs respectively.  Pierce's six digs were in addition to her match high three service aces.

Sophomore Stephanie Nihan (Dracut, Mass.) had eight kills for the Leopards while Young added five and had four blocks. Senior Shannon Ponce (San Jose, Calif.) had 20 assists and three blocks, sophomore Amanda Hunton (Monroe, N.Y.) had a pair of aces, and senior Sam Curran (Quincy, Mass.) had 12 digs.

With the win, Endicott improves to 10-9 (2-1 CCC) on the season while Wentworth falls to 9-9 (2-2 CCC).  Endicott now turns their sites to the west coast as the team will compete at the Leo Invitational hosted by La Verne and Pomona-Pitzer this Friday and Saturday.  On Friday, Endicott will take on Virginia Wesleyan and La Verne before challenging Whittier and Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday.  Wentworth wraps up its six-match home stand against UMass Dartmouth on Thursday night.