BEVERLY, Mass. - Behind a raucous crowd in the MacDonald Gymnasium, the top-seeded Endicott women's volleyball team took down second-seeded Roger Williams 3-1 to claim the program's eighth Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) championship all-time. With the win, Endicott (21-8) advances to the NCAA DIII Tournament, while Roger Williams (11-11) sees its season come to a close.

The Gulls 3-1 win came via set scores of 22-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-15, for the fourth straight victory over the Hawks. 

Despite falling 25-22 in the first set, the Gulls put together an impressive run that shifted momentum for the remainder of the match. Down 19-10, Endicott put together a 10-0 run to take the lead at 20-19. From there, the two teams would trade points with the Hawks coming out on top, winning the last three for the 25-22 set win.

From there, Endicott would go on to hit .302 (44-15-96) for the rest of the match, while holding Roger Williams to a .109 (30-19-101) average in the final three sets of play. 

Leading the dominant offensive performance were pins Amanda Gilbert (Hopkinton, Mass.) and Riley Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) as the pair combined for 36 of Endicott's 52 kills in the match. Gilbert finished with a match-high 21 kills with just four errors on 44 attempts to hit .386, which also led the match, while Donahue posted 15 kills and a .300 average (15-6-30) to go with 12 digs in the 3-1 win.

The Gulls defensive efforts were led by Nicole Winkler (Southborough, Mass.) and her five blocks (1 S - 4 A), which tied for the match-high, and 16 dig-efforts from libero Emma Ruel (Duxbury, Mass.) and Lauren McGrath (Franklin, Mass.), who tied each other for the match-high. McGrath also added a team-best 24 assists, while Amelia Beigel (Amherst, Mass.) finished with 18.

Winkler also finished with three kills on nine error-free attempts (.333), while fellow graduate student Meghan Frederick (Sunapee, N.H.) finished with four kills and two blocks. Colleen McAvoy (Coventry, Conn.) and Krystina Schueler (Trumbull, Conn.) finished with six and three kills, respectively, to round out the offensive attack for the Gulls. 

Leading the way for the Hawks was Katherine Pickard (St. Petersburg, Fla.), who finished with 19 kills and 12 errors on a match-high 67 attempts (.104). The senior also picked up a team-best 14 digs for the double-double, while setter Kate Porter (Killingworth, Conn.) posted a match-high 35 assists. Middle Tori Melanson (North Attleboro, Mass.) finished with a team-best .308 average after recording four kills on 13 error-free attempts.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• With today's win, Endicott has now won the last two CCC championships and four of the last five, claiming victories in 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2021. 
• Tiebreaker was the theme of today's match, as the win gives Endicott a 4-3 edge in the head-to-head championship series against RWU, and an 8-7 edge in CCC championships all-time between the programs since Endicott joined the CCC in 1999. 
• The CCC title caps an undefeated run against CCC opponents for the Gulls for the sixth time under head coach Tim Byram, who has led the Gulls to all eight of the program's titles. 
• Endicott finished with a 7:4 ace:error ratio in the match, compared to a 4:9 ratio for Roger Williams.

WHAT'S NEXT

With the win in today's CCC championship, Endicott (21-8) has claimed the automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA DIII Tournament, which will be announced on Monday. With the setback, Roger Williams (11-11) finishes its 2021 campaign. 

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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)