BEVERLY, MASS.- Behind a career night from junior outside Callie Dolan (Westford, Mass.) and their All-Tournament libero Ashley Norley (Sudbury, Mass.), the Endicott Women's Volleyball team was able to come out victorious over Colby in a five set thriller. Endicott finished the MIT Invitational with a 3-1 record.
Endicott won the first set 25-22 before seeing Colby surge back to take the second, 25-16. From there on out, every set went into extra points as each team refused to go down without a fight. Endicott grabbed the third set 27-25 with Colby grabbing the fourth 26-24. The fifth set saw Endicott grab the lead at the swith 8-7 before finally pulling out the victory 18-16.
Dolan exploded for a 22 kill performance which ties her for 5th all-time in Endicott College single match history. The junior outside recorded the 22 kills on 55 swings with only six errors for an impressive .291 hitting percentage as well as picking up 10 digs. Senior libero Ashley Norley, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, was stellar on defense yet again as she racked up an additional 27 digs. Through the four match tournament, Norley picked up 84 digs in 15 sets for an average of 5.6 digs/set. With Dolan being on her game, freshman setter Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.) ran a smart offense that rode the hot hand while also incorporating all of her other weapons. VandeMerkt finished with 45 assist in the night cap with 15 digs as well. Freshman middle Mackenzie Guerre (Carlsbad, Calif.) continued her impressive weekend with a solid 11 kills on 25 swings while hitting .280 and four total blocks (two solo, two assist). Fellow freshman Lexi Watts (San Diego, Calif.) recorded seven kills as senior outside Falyn Torelli (Pelham, N.Y.) notched six of her own. Sophomore middle Hannah Dahlgren (Queensbury, N.Y.) made her presence felt at the net as she collected three solo blocks as well as three assist blocks.
Colby was led by freshman Natalie Roy (Los Altos, Calif.) as she was able to knock down 15 kills. Maggie Taylor (Cabin John, Md.), Lily Kramlich-Taylor (Sacramento, Calif.) and Kate Bellerose (West Newton, Mass.) all contributed 11 kills on the evening. Kate Pleasants (Virginia Beach, Va.) tallied a match-high 53 assists as she was able to involve all of her offensive weapons. Emily Varni (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) was all over the court on defense as she grabbed a whopping 29 digs. Natalie Roy was also able to pick up 23 digs as Maggie Taylor came in right behind her with 21.
Endicott is now off until Tuesday as they travel to conference foe Eastern Nazarene for a 7 p.m. match. Colby is off until Friday as they travel to Middlebury for an 8 p.m. match.
