BEVERLY, Mass.- With a 16 match win streak over Wentworth on the line, it took Endicott an extra set to extend the streak and keep their 2013 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) record perfect as they improved to 10-9 (3-0) on Tuesday night. The Gulls got huge offensive performances from Callie Dolan (Westford, Mass.) and Mackenzie Guerre (Carlsbad, Calif.) to hand the Leopards their second CCC loss as Wentworth fell to 9-6 (1-2).
Set won saw Endicott in control early as they quickly established a three point lead that grew to nine as Endicott led 18-9 late in the first. Wenworth would respond with a nine point service run behind the serving of Jordan Young (Derry, N.H.) to take an 18-19 lead before the Gulls would tie it up at 19-19. From there, both teams would trade trade points to tie at 22-22 before Jessica Petruicci (Cape Coral, Fla.) would rattle off three straight to clinch the first set 25-22 for the Gulls.
Set two saw the Leopards gain the early momentum and build off their first set performance as they jumped out to a 14-7 lead. The Gulls would fight back to close the gap to 14-18 but that is as close as they would get the rest of the set. Wentworth combined their best offensive set with consistent defense to go on to win 25-15.
Endicott played with a fire in the third set and quickly jumped out to an 11-2 lead behind a nine point run from Guerre. The Leopards would slowly close the gap and were down just five with the score at 19-14 before the teams essentially split the scoring the rest of the way to close with a 25-20 set in favor of Endicott. The third set gave the Gulls the advantage heading into the fourth as they were up 2-1.
Endicott came out fired up in the fourth set and would jump out to a quick 10-4 lead behind stellar offensive play from Dolan and Guerre. Wentworth would close the gap to 12-8 before Endicott used service runs by Erika Trudon (Coventry, Conn.) and Lexi Watts (San Diego, Calif.) to push the lead to 19-10. Wenworth would get as close as 21-13 late in the fourth before the Gulls pushed offensively and closed with a 25-14 set win to clinch the match 3-1.
Callie Dolan and Mackenzie Guerre continued their offensive dominance as Dolan recorded 20 kills and Guerre collected 16. Dolan's 20 kills came on 45 attempts with only six errors for a .304 clip as Guerre notched her 16 kills on just 23 attempts with one lone hitting error for a .652 clip. Sophomore Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.) was fantastic as the team's setter as she collected an astounding 50 assists in the four set win.
A trio of Gulls had impressive defensive performances as Petrucci, VandeMerkt and Trudon all collected double digit dig totals. Petrucci recorded a team high 17 digs while VandeMerkt tallied 12 and Trudon picked up 11. Guerre was also a force at the net and service line as she totaled five blocks (two solo, three assist) and four aces on the evening. VandeMerkt and Kelli Sugrue (Tewksbury, Mass.) each chipped in with four assist blocks as well.
Wentworth was led by impressive performances from Hannah Bailey (Plymouth, Mass.), Shannon Ponce (San Jose, Calif.), Sheena Dignean (Constantia, N.Y.) and Sam Curran (Quincy, Mass.) in particular. Bailey and Dignean tied for the team high in kills as each recorded 10 in the match. Dignean combined her 10 kill performance with 15 digs to record the double-double. Ponce collected seven digs of her own while also picking up a team high 27 assists. Curran was everywhere defensively as she totaled a match high 21 digs.
Endicott returns to action Thursday as they travel to CCC foe Curry. Wentworth is off until Saturday when they travel to Chicopee, Mass. for a tri-match with Becker and Elms at Elms College.