Posted: Sep 17, 2016
NEW LONDON, Conn.- The Endicott women's volleyball team dropped a pair of non-conference matches on Saturday, falling to Clark in five before falling to Coast Guard in four. Endicott (7-5) is now off until Tuesday when they host the University of New England in their Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opener.
MATCH ONE: Clark 3 Endicott 2 (22-25, 26-24, 19-25, 25-12, 15-9)
The Gulls would start strong offensively, hitting well over .300 in each of the first three sets. The Gulls took the first 25-22 while hitting .366 (15-0-41) before dropping the tight second, 26-24, despite hitting .359 (16-2-39). Endicott then took a 2-1 lead after taking the third, 25-19 thanks in part to a .319 hitting percentage (16-1-47). Up 2-1 and looking to close out the match in the fourth, the Gulls would struggle offensively, posting a -.143 percentage (2-6-28) before the Cougars claimed the match 3-2 by taking a 15-9 fifth.
BEYOND THE BOX
- Lauren Sheehan (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) led the Gulls in kills with 15 in the setback. It is the sixth straight match, and seventh total time, that Sheehan has led the Gulls this season.
- The Gulls saw three players reach double-digit dig totals in Mackenzie Kennedy (Andover, Mass.), Cydney Pierce (Carpinteria, Calif.) and Mareena Clotfelter (Poulsbo, Wash.). Kennedy led the team with 17 while Pierce was close behind, posting 15 in the loss. Clotfelter recorded 10 digs while also registering 23 assists for the double-double.
- Freshman Zoey Gifford (Natick, Mass.) pitched in 19 assists and five digs on the night while sophomore middle Emily Diezemann (Peabody, Mass.) logged a match-best five assist blocks.
- Endicott still holds a 4-3 advantage in the all-time series as this was the first meeting between the two institutions since 2005. Prior to 2016, the Gulls had won four straight meetings dating back to 2002.
FOR THE FOES
- Clark was led by Marina Ramos (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) and Jackie Jiminez-Maldo (San Francisco, Calif.) who combined for 37 kills in the win. Ramos posted a team best 20 to go accompany 22 digs while Jiminez-Maldo notched 17 kills to go with three digs.
- Sophomore Rachel Webb (Celina, Texas) logged a match-high 50 assists while libero Maria Cattaneo (Santa Barbara, Calif.) led all players with 32 digs, six shy of her career best that she posted in the team's 3-1 win over Salve Regina last season.
- The Cougars held the advantage in kills (72-55), hitting percentage (.243 to .224) and digs (97-71) to improve to 8-4 on the season.
MATCH TWO: Coast Guard 3 Endicott 1 (25-20, 25-22, 22-25, 25-17)
Endicott would drop the second match of the tri-match to host Coast Guard 3-1 to finish the weekend with a 7-5 record heading into CCC play. The Gulls battled in the first two sets, dropping both by scores of 25-20 and 25-22 before claiming the third 25-22 to force extra frames. The Gulls would then fall in the fourth 25-17 to the Bears to lose the match.
BEYOND THE BOX
- Senior outside Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) tied for the match-high in kills with 14 and earned a double-double with 11 digs.
- Pin hitter Emma Mancini (Lynnfield, Mass.) grabbed 10 kills in the loss to go with five digs while fellow sophomore Emily Diezemann posted two solo blocks and four kills in the match.
- Setters Zoey Gifford and Mareena Clotfelter combined to record 36 assists in the setback, with Gifford leading the way with 21.
- Libero Mackenzie Kennedy grabbed 10 digs to extend her streak of double-digit dig performances to seven.
FOR THE FOES
- The Bears' Emma Saunders (LaGrange, Ill.) tied with McIntyre with 14 kills in the win while the right side also recorded a .407 hitting percentage in the win.
- Setters Makenna Martin (Granbury, Texas) and Hailye Reynolds (Groesbeck, Texas) combined for 44 assists in the match with Martin putting up 26 of them.
- Michelle McGill (Atlantic Beach, Fla.) and Reynolds tied for the team-high in digs with 10.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (7-5) returns home for two straight conference contests as the Gulls host the University of New England on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. before hosting Salve Regina at home on Saturday as part of Endicott's Homecoming Weekend at 3:00 p.m.
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