Box Score

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women’s volleyball team notched another program milestone on Tuesday night, as the Gulls defeated the highest-ranked opponent in their program history with a 3-0 win over New England’s top-ranked team, UMass-Boston. The Gulls used set scores of 25-19, 26-24 and 25-20 in the sweep. The Blue and Green improve to 12-7 overall while the Beacons dip to 13-4.

The Gulls opened the night with an up-tempo style that quickly netted the Blue and Green an early 11-3 advantage. The Beacons would eventually pull within five (15-10), however the Gulls regained a sizeable lead after back-to-back kills from \#Amy Grigg\# (Vernon, Conn.) and \#Brittany Phillips\# (Sudbury, Mass.). A UMass-Boston timeout did nothing to slow the Endicott momentum, as the Gulls notched four straight points after the break to take a 24-13 lead. A short Beacons’ burst was silenced on a serving ace by \#Ally Murphy\# (Gilford, N.H.) to secure the first game win, 25-19.

UMass looked like a different squad in the opening half of game two, as the Beacons jumped out to a 16-10 lead on the back of five kills from senior Kate McWhorter (Bakersfield, Calif.). UMass-Boston would push the lead to 20-13; however the Gulls refused to go away quietly. Endicott mounted an incredible six point run to pull within one point. The game would eventually knot its way at 24-all before \#Steph Wiese\# (Higganum, Conn.) gave the home team a 25-24 lead with a kill on the far side. An attack error by the Beacons’ Shannon Thompson (Moorpark, Calif.) awarded the Gulls with a 26-24 win.

The third set was a see-saw battle until Endicott took six of seven points to break a 15-all tie to pull ahead 21-16. Freshman libero \#Ashley Norley\# (Sudbury, Mass.) made a diving dig during the run, setting up \#Brittany Philips\# on the outside for the kill. Middle \#Amy Grigg\# all but sealed the win for the Gulls when the junior posted a solo block on an attack attempt by UMass-Boston’s Alexa Sullivan (South Dennis, Mass.), giving the Gulls a 24-19 lead. Steph Wiese put the finishing touches on the night as she took a set from freshman \#Mollie Postma\# (Everett, Wash.) and placed a kill right inside the far sideline to give the Gulls a 25-20 win.

Wiese had a team high 17 kills on 31 swings with just two errors (.484). Wiese also chipped in with 11 digs. \#Brittany Phillips\# finished with 12 kills and five digs while \#Elyse Barbour\# (Greenville, R.I.) and \#Jackie Gardner\# (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) each had six kills in the win. \#Ashley Norley\# finished with a match-high 17 digs. As a team, the Gulls hit .313 on the evening.

UMass-Boston got a 17 kill effort from Kate McWhorter. The senior outside swung at a .571 clip for the Beacons. Cassy Hanneman (Denver, Colo.) dished out 28 assists while Bethany Rossoll (Colorado Springs, Colo.) notched 11 digs.

Endicott returns to action on Saturday when the Gulls travel to the Springfield College Invitational Tournament where they will meet Westfield State on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. UMass-Boston looks to rebound against Little East opponent Southern Maine on Thursday at 6:00 p.m.