BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women's volleyball team dropped a pair of decisions on Friday night as they played host to Tufts and Bates on day one of the MIT Invitational. The Gulls fell to Tufts 3-1 (25-22, 25-15, 19-25, 25-22) and Bates 3-1 (25-19, 28-26, 17-25, 25-18) to fall to 4-3 on the season.
MATCH ONE: Tufts 3 Endicott 1 (25-22, 25-15, 19-25, 25-22)
Endicott and Tufts played a tight first set before the Jumbos pulled away late to claim a 1-0 lead behind a 25-22 score. The second set saw the Jumbos cruise offensively, posting a 25-15 set win behind 11 kills while the defense limited Endicott to just five to go up 2-0.
The Gulls would rally in the third, posting a 25-19 win as they kept the Tufts offense to a .000 hitting percentage before the Jumbos would take the match 3-1 by hitting .243 to go with 15 kills in the fourth to win 25-22. The Jumbos out-hit the Gulls .171 to .116 in the contest.
BEYOND THE BOX
- Lauren Sheehan (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) led the team with a 16 kill, nine dig performance as the junior hit .333 for the match (16-3-39). The 16 kills were tied for the fourth best single-match performance of her career, as were the nine digs.
- Mareena Clotfelter (Poulsbo, Wash.) and Zoey Gifford (Natick, Mass.) teamed up to record 30 assists in the match, with Clotfelter picking up 19 to go with eight digs, while Gifford posted 11 assists and 11 digs for her first career double-double.
- Freshman Mackenzie Kennedy (Andover, Mass.) got her first career start at libero and tallied 15 digs.
FOR THE FOES
- Mackenzie Bright (Duxbury, Mass.) registered a match-high 17 kills while hitting at a .333 clip to go with seven digs.
- Libero Kelly Klimo (North Canton, Ohio) posted a match-high 23 digs while also tying for the team lead with two aces.
- Rachel Furash (Westlake Village, Calif.) ran the offense as she collected 36 assists and five digs.
MATCH TWO: Bates 3 Endicott 1 (25-19, 28-26, 17-25, 25-18)
In the night cap, Bates stormed out to a 1-0 lead behind 16 kills in the first set while hitting .302 as a team. The Bobcats extended the lead to 2-0 after barely edging out the Gulls 28-26 in the second as the Endicott offense came alive, posting 16 kills but coming up just short of Bates' 17.
The Gulls would close the match to 2-1 after claiming the third behind a team hitting percentage of .273 with 15 kills compared to 6 kills and a .000 average for the visitors. Bates would then re-group and edge out Endicott in the fourth by notching 14 kills while hitting .265 as a unit to claim the 3-1 win, their first win of the 2016 campaign.
BEYOND THE BOX
- Endicott was again led by Sheehan as she posted a match-high 17 kills to go with 16 digs. The 17 kills again became her fourth best personal output while the 16 digs set a career high.
- Outside Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) posted a double-double as she recorded 15 kills at a .267 clip (15-3-45) while picking up 10 digs in the setback.
- Libero Mackenzie Kennedy again set a career high in digs with 18 as she also chipped in two aces.
- Setters Mareena Clotfelter and Zoe Gifford combined to total 50 assists, with 23 going to Clotfelter and 27 to Gifford.
FOR THE FOES
- Bates was led by Chandler McGrath (Seal Beach, Calif.) who picked up a team-best 10 kills in the win.
- Libero Gabi Eustache (New York, N.Y.) led the match with 22 digs while also chipping in five assists and four aces.
- Setters Jacqueline Forney (Bloomington, Ind.) and Julia Panepinto (Buffalo, N.Y.) combined for 54 assists with Forney leading the team with 26. Forney also picked up 11 digs to record the double-double.
WHAT'S NEXT
All three teams continue on to day two of the MIT Invitational with all matches being played in Cambridge, Mass. on the campus of MIT. Endicott squares off against Babson at 1:00 pm and Brandeis at 3:00 pm. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.