HISTORY MADE: Endicott Knocks off No. 10 MIT en route to MIT Invitational Title

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Endicott women's volleyball team claimed the MIT Invitational Title on Saturday after knocking off AVCA nationally ranked No. 10 MIT 3-1, and sweeping Keene St. 3-0 to go 3-0 on the weekend. The wins improved Endicott to 5-0 on the season as the Gulls defeated MIT 25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22 and Keene St. 25-13, 25-20, 25-14.

The win marks the highest nationally ranked opponent Endicott has ever defeated, besting the previous high mark of No. 14 Christopher Newport in a 3-0 in 2019. This marks the third straight season the women have recorded a nationally ranked win, as the Gulls took down No. 20 Bowdoin in 2021.

Tournament MVP honors went to Amanda Gilbert (West Falmouth, Mass.), while Emma Ruel (Duxbury, Mass.) joined her on the All-Tournament Team. Gilbert's MVP weekend started on Friday ngiht with her 14 kill, seven dig, three ace effort in the team's 3-1 win over Bowdoin, before posting a dominant 17 kill, 11 dig, two ace effort in the team's 3-1 win over No. 10 MIT. Gilbert hit a team-best .429 in the win, recording her 17 kills on 39 attempts while committing just two hitting errors. The graduate student finished the weekend with eight kills and eight digs in the quick sweep of the Owls.

Ruel was equally as dominant defensively, starting the Tournament with a 20-dig effort in the team's 3-1 win over Bowdoin, before recording 12 digs and a career-high eight assists in the historic win over MIT, before finsihing the weekend with nine digs in the sweep of Keene St. Two of her three performances (Bowdoin & Keene. St.) were good for match-high dig totals, while her 12 digs against MIT were good for second on the team.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORES

• Krystina Schueler (Trumbull, Conn.) was a key contributor on both sides of the ball on Saturday, starting the morning with a seven kill, six block effort against the Engineers, before finishing the afternoon with a nine kill, five block performance in the sweep of Keene St.
• Colleen McAvoy (Coventry, Conn.) matched Schueler with her efforts, posting six kills, five blocks, and three aces in the win over MIT, while her seven kill, four block performance saw her post a match-high .455 average.
• Setter Lauren McGrath (Franklin, Mass.) posted a pair of impressive performances with 20 assists and 13 digs against the hosts, before finishing the tournament with 17 assists, seven digs and four aces against Keene St.
• Freshman outside Kelsey Sanborn (Londonderry, N.H.) finished the match against MIT with 11 kills, which tied her for the second-highest mark in the match.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Gulls will be off until they fly west next weekend, to take on Claremont-Mudd Scripps on Friday night, and Whittier and Cal Lutheran on Saturday.

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