Endicott Sweeps Wentworth for First CCC Win of 2015

BEVERLY, Mass.- The Endicott women's volleyball team hosted Wentworth today to start their Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) schedule and were able to claim a 3-0 sweep over the visiting Leopards. With the win, Endicott improves to 11-5 (1-0) on the season while Wentworth falls to 4-9 (0-2).

Endicott was led offensively by a pair of juniors in Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) and Hayley Knapp (Valencia, Calif.) as each student-athlete recorded nine kills.  McIntyre was able to pick up her nine kills on 29 swings without an error as she hit .310 while Knapp tallied her nine on 16 swings with two errors as the middle hit .438.

Graduate setter Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.) ran an efficient offense that saw the Gulls hit .268 as a team as she dished out 20 of the team's 39 assists while also finishing second on the team in digs with nine. Fellow setter, freshman Mareena Clotfelter (Poulsbo, Wash.) recorded nine assists to go along with six digs and two kills to complete the 6-2 offense. 

Middle Kelli Sugrue (Tewksbury, Mass.) hit a match high .625 in the win as the junior produced a 5-0-8 line to go along with three assist blocks, which tied for the match high.  Opposite Lexi Watts (San Diego, Calif.) chipped in seven kills of her own while freshman Emma Mancini (Lynnfield, Mass.) posted four kills and four digs. 

BEYOND THE BOX

• With her 16 digs in just three sets of play, reigning CCC and ECAC DIII New England Libero of the Week Cydney Pierce (Santa Barbara, Calif.) led the Endicott defense that held Wentworth to a .143 hitting percentage. Pierce is now averaging 4.32 digs/set on the season.
• Following the 3-0 sweep, Endicott improved to 19-0 all-time against Wentworth.  The Gulls have now swept the Leopards 16 of the 19 times and have only dropped three total sets in the history of the rivalry.
• With her 9-2-16 (.438) line, junior Hayley Knapp is now hitting a team high .314, is second in blocks with 30 and is third in kills and kills/set.
• After posting 20 assists, VandeMerkt is now 316 shy of 4,000 career assists as she currently sits at 3,684.

FOR THE FOES

• Wentworth setter Amanda Hunton (Monroe, N.Y.) tied for the match high in assists with 20 while she also picked up 10 digs to post her second straight double-double after a 16-10 line against UNE.
• Opposite Caroline Shea (Abington, Mass.) was efficient on the right, hitting a career high .545 after knocking down six kills on 11 error-free swings.
• Libero Lillie Clark (Vista, Calif.) posted a team high 15 digs in the setback, marking the sixth time she has posted 15 or more digs in a match this season.
• Outside Hannah Bailey (Plymouth, Mass.) finished with a team high eight digs as she hit .241 after recording one error on 29 attempts.  The senior now leads the team with 117 kills, 50 more than her nearest teammate.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott has two CCC matches on the horizon, starting with a Tuesday trip to Milton, Mass. to take on the Colonels of Curry before readying for next Saturday's match against Roger Williams at 2:00 p.m.  The Roger Williams match is a part of Endicott's Homecoming Weekend and is a rematch of 2014's CCC Semifinal match that saw the Gulls nearly knock off the top seeded Hawks in five.  Wentworth also has Roger Williams on the docket for next week as the Leopards travel to the Hawks on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. start. 

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