Gulls Fall to Western New England in Regular Season Finale; CCC Tournament Awaits

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.-  The Endicott women's volleyball team travelled to Western Mass. today to take on Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) foe Western New England (WNE) on Saturday and came up short, falling 3-0 in straight sets.  With a current record of 15-15 (5-3 CCC) after 30 regular season matches, the Gulls sit in fourth place and have earned a first round home match in the upcoming CCC tournament.  Time, date and opponent are awaiting announcement from CCC Commissioner Gregg Kaye.

WNE, a team that stands at 19-11 (7-1 CCC) at the conclusion of regular season play, swept the Gulls by scores of 25-18, 25-15 and 25-13.  The Golden Bears frustrated the Gulls offensively, holding Endicott to a season low -.058 hitting percentage while also hitting at a .267 clip themselves.  WNE also held the upper-hand in kills (40-16), aces (10-4) and digs (51-41) while Endicott posted five total blocks to four for WNE.

Leading the way for Endicott were libero Cyndey Pierce (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and defensive specialist Jessica Petrucci (Cape Coral, Fla.) who accounted for 20 of the team's 41 digs.  Setter Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.) finished with 15 assists with six of them going to Elise Morgan (Holbrook, Mass.) kills.  Sophomore Hayley Knapp (Valencia, Calif.) finished the match with a match high four assist blocks.

The Golden Bears were led Kasey Cameron (Reading, Mass.) who finished with a match high 12 kills on 28 swings (12-4-28, .286) while the trio of Carolyn Hajdusek (Northfield, N.H.), Olivia Lathrop (Farmington, Conn.) and Carly Skibinski (Milford, N.J.) combined for 16 kills on 38 attempts with only three errors.  Running a 6-2 offense, setters Jessica Sincero (Verplanck, N.Y.) and Jenna Leuck (Dumont, N.J.) finished with 18 and 13 assists respectively.  Libero Grace Kucharski (Avon, Conn.), sister of former Endicott player Grace Kucharski, finished with a match high 17 digs.

Both teams now await the release of the CCC Postseason Schedule to find out who their first round opponents will be.