HOBOKEN, N.Y. – In his 16th season at the helm of the Endicott women's volleyball program, head coach Tim Byram earned his 300th career coaching victory as the Gulls split a pair of matches on day one of their schedule through the Stevens Tech Invitational. Endicott dropped a four-set match to Stockton before dropping NYU in straight sets to deliver Byram's historic milestone.
MATCH ONE: Stockton 3, Endicott 1 (25-21, 25-13, 20-25, 25-22)
Double-digit kills by Endicott outside hitters Lauren Sheehan (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) and Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) fueled a strong offensive effort by the Gulls in their first match of the weekend. Sheehan struck 12 kills on 30 swings with a .300 hitting percentage and McIntyre mirrored her teammate's effort with 11 kills at a .286 clip.
Setters Alleigh VandeMerkt (Riverside, Ill.) and Mareena Clotfelter (Poulsbo, Wash.) fed Sheehan and McIntyre often to the tune of 20 and 16 assists, respectively. The duo also distributed to senior opposite Lexi Watts (Rancho Bernardo, Calif.) and junior middle Hayley Knapp (Valencia, Calif.) for seven and six kills in match one.
Defensively, the Gulls saw sophomore libero Cydney Pierce (Santa Barbara, Calif.) average over four digs per set with 21 total digs. At the net, junior middle Kelli Sugrue (Tewksbury, Mass.) aided in Endicott's six total blocks with one solo and one assisted block.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- McIntyre's 11-kill match was her sixth performance with double-figure kills in Endicott's last seven matches. She has a team-high 87 kills during this stretch with a .286 hitting percentage, the best among outside hitters on the roster.
- Sheehan's effort was her most efficient since her 19-kill match back on September 4th which helped her earn CCC and ECAC Player of the Week honors.
- Endicott's 17 service aces were the most this season thanks in part to seven by McIntyre alone, a career-high for the junior.
FOR THE FOES
- Stockton won their ninth straight match as the Ospreys hit .283 as a team with a team-high 11 kills from junior right side Lindsay Schuele (Sparta, N.Y.) and nine apiece from junior Idi Uffen (Williamstown, N.J.) and Stephanie Kovacs (Allentown, Pa.).
- Stockton's 6-2 offense featured setters Shannon Clark (Folsom, Pa.) and Jessica Ciandella (Beachwood, N.J.) who distributed 17 and 14 assists, respectively.
- Junior defensive specialist Rebecka Zabilowicz (Belmar, N.J.) was a presence in four sets with a match-high 26 digs while Kovacs and Clark each contributed with nine and seven digs apiece. Uffen also had her hand in Stockton's defensive game plan with two solo blocks and one assisted stuff.
MATCH TWO: Endicott 3, NYU 0 (25-23, 25-23, 26-24)
VandeMerkt's 25 assists, 13 kills from Sheehan, 12 from McIntyre, and 17 digs by Pierce were all major catalysts in helping Byram over the 300-win plateau for his Endicott career. Byram now sits at 300-227 (.569) in his 16th season and 353-255 (.581) all-time as a head coach.
VandeMerkt's output, as well as 11 assists from Clotfelter, was mainly targeted to Sheehan and McIntyre but eight kills on 22 swings (.227) by Knapp were also critical in the win.
In the first set, Endicott broke a 14-14 tie with NYU by rattling off four straight points to take control of the opening stanza. The Violets clawed back to knot the score at 23-23 but back-to-back kills by Sheehan from VandeMerkt delivered a first set victory.
Endicott trailed early in set two but, like set one, rallied to obtain a lead but saw NYU fight back. This time, NYU held a 23-22 lead but strong play by junior outside Lilly Benabou (Medway, Mass.) down the stretch via a kill and an ace helped the Gulls win set two 25-23.
In a back-and-forth third set, Endicott found themselves on the wrong end of a set-point at 24-22 but a kill by McIntyre made it a one-point set. NYU surrendered the final three points of the match on hitting errors to hand the match over to Endicott with a 26-24 third set score.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Benabou's kill in the second set to help put Endicott up 2-0 was her only kill of the match as she mainly contributed on the defensive end with six digs out of the back row.
- Clotfelter totaled a career-high 15 digs in the win as she produced her third career double-double. The previous two came in back-to-back five-set losses to Wellesley and Scranton on September 11-12.
- Byram joins his Endicott colleague Mark Veilleux, head coach of the softball program, as the only coaches in department history with more than 300 victories. Veilleux will enter his 22nd season this spring with 575 career wins.
- Byram, the former men's volleyball coach from 2001-12, accumulated a 214-164 record as the men's coach. He has a combined 514 wins between both programs.
FOR THE FOES
- NYU's sophomore outside Alexis Jackson (Los Angeles, Calif.) matched Sheehan for a match-high 13 kills on 31 swings and a .355 hitting percentage. Jackson also had six digs.
- Senior middle Nicole Frias (Marin County, Calif.) was another one of NYU's most impactful players with nine kills on a .389 swing percentage.
- Libero Brooke Tannahill (Albany, Calif.) had 31 digs and setter Daryl Mitchell (Douglasville, Ga.) distributed 32 assists in the loss.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott competes on day two of the Stevens Tech Invitational against Kean (1:00 p.m.) the host Ducks (3:00 p.m.) before heading back up north. NYU takes on Arcadia (11:00 a.m.) and Stockton (3:00 p.m.) on Saturday.
