Sheehan Leads Gulls To 3-1 Victory Over Keene State To Open Brandeis Invitational

BEVERLY, Mass.- For the second time in as many matches, the Endicott women's volleyball team earned a win, this time albeit it a 3-1 comeback victory over the Owls of Keene State on day one of the Brandeis Invitational.

Leading an offensive outburst for the Gulls was sophomore Lauren Sheehan (Bainbridge, Wash.) who yet again set new career bests in kills and hitting percentage. The outside led the team with 19 kills with just one error on 29 attempts to give her a .621 average on the day. 

Middle Hayley Knapp (Valencia, Calif.) and opposite Jayla Brennen (Litchfield, N.H.) finished second and third on the squad in both kills and average as Knapp performed at a .643 clip, while notching nine kills on 14 error-free swings. Brennen was equally as impressive, tallying seven kills on 16 swings with just one error for a .375 average. Knapp also led the team in blocks with two solo and one assist.

Setters Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.) and Mareena Clotfelter (Poulsbo, Wash.) ran an efficient offense as both picked up 23 assists in the win.

Sophomore libero Cydney Pierce (Santa Barbara, Calif.) guided the defensive effort with 14 digs while Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) finished with nine to go along with her seven kills. VandeMerkt chipped in with eight digs of her own, while Clotfelter and Lilly Benabou (Medway, Mass.) each picked up seven.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• For the second straight match, Sheehan set personal bests in kills and hitting percentage, surpassing her 16 kills, .542 performance against Simmons on Wednesday.
• The Gulls improved to 8-3 all-time against the Owls and avenged a five set loss from August 31, 2013 when these two schools met last. Endicott has now won three of the last four meetings and nine of the last 11.
• The 53 kills the Gulls knocked home in the win were five shy of cracking Endicott's top-10 in team kills for a four set match all-time.

WHAT'S UP NEXT

Both teams will return to Brandeis for day two of the Brandeis Invitational. The Gulls will take on the University of Southern Maine and host Brandeis. Endicott is 1-0 against Southern Maine and 4-14 all-time against the Judges.

Keene State looks to square off against Johnson and Wales (R.I.), who knocked off Brandeis 3-0 on Friday night, and then Brandeis to close out their weekend. 

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