CCC SEMIFINALS: No. 2 Endicott Sweeps No. 6 WNE to Return to CCC Title Match

BEVERLY, Mass. - The second-seeded Endicott women's volleyball team swept sixth-seeded Western New England University 3-0 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) semifinals on Thursday night. The win lifts Endicott to 21-8 on the season and propels the Gulls back to the CCC Championship match for the third straight year.

The Blue and Green offense was dominant throughout, finishing the match hitting .398 collectively after posting a 42-7-88 final line. The .398 average is good for the second-best performance of the season, only trailing Endicott's .493 performance in the team's 3-0 sweep of Curry on October 25. Orchestrating the Gulls' attack was setter Lauren McGrath (Franklin, Mass.), who finished with 38 assists, a new career-high mark in a three set match for the senior. McGrath nearly posted a double-double, finishing with nine digs while she also tied for the match-high mark with three aces.

Terminating nearly half of McGrath's 38 assists was Amanda Gilbert (West Falmouth, Mass.), who led all played with 16 kills. Gilbert finished the match hitting .483 (16-3-29) on the night, good for the second-highest mark in the match. Finishing just ahead of Gilbert was Krystina Schueler (Trumbull, Conn.), who led all players with her .500 night after finishing with seven kills and two errors on 10 total swings. Schueler also led the team with her two blocks.

A pair of freshman also shined on the pins as Sophie Breitenbach (Newport, R.I.) and Kelsey Sanborn (Londonderry, N.H.) each finished with six kills without any errors. Breitenbach's six kills came on 15 swings as she hit an even .400 for the match, while Sanborn finished hitting .333 after closing the night with a 6-0-13 performance. Colleen McAvoy (Coventry, Conn.) rounded out the Endicott attack with five kills on 12 attempts while also posting four digs, an ace and a block.

Defensively, Emma Ruel (Duxbury, Mass.) was everywhere, picking up a match-high 16 digs, as she anchored an Endicott defense that out-dug the Golden Bears 48-37 and held the opposing attack to a .138 average (29-14-109).

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott has advanced to the CCC Championship for the third straight season, and fifth time in the last six seasons. The Gulls have won the last two straight, and four of the last five.
• Endicott is now 22-4 all-time against Western New England in a series that dates back to 1994.
• Amelia Beigel (Amherst, Mass.) finished with eight digs and two aces in the sweep.
• Endicott's 21 wins are the third straight season that the Gulls have eclipsed the 20-win plateau. 

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (21-8), the second seed in the CCC tournament, will travel to top-seeded Gordon (16-13) on Saturday for the title match. The start time is currently set for 1:00 PM. 

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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)