Posted: Nov 12, 2011
NEW LONDON, Conn. – Endicott went up two sets to one on Plymouth State in the ECAC New England Semifinals on Saturday afternoon but the Panthers rallied to take the final two sets in a five-set win over the Gulls.
Endicott held match point twice in the fourth set, but Plymouth State fought back to win the set 27-25 before taking the deciding fifth set 15-8. The final set scores for Plymouth State were 25-22, 22-25, 16-25, 27-25, 15-8.
The Gulls end their 2011 season with a 16-16 overall record after nearly reaching the ECAC New England Championship Match for the second straight year.
Plymouth State (25-10) moves on to face Coast Guard at 5:00 pm to decide this year’s ECAC New England champion.
After dropping the first set, Endicott scored eight of the final nine points of set two for the 25-22 win. The Gulls battled back from an early 7-3 deficit and even trailed 21-17 before tying the match.
Endicott carried that momentum into the third set with an early 6-3 advantage. Plymouth State scored four straight points to take a 7-6 edge but later, the Gulls would use a 7-1 spurt to take its largest lead of the game at 18-11. Endicott went on to win the third set 25-16.
The Panthers went ahead 11-8 in the fourth set before the Gulls used a 6-1 run to take a 14-12 lead. With the set tied 19-19, the two teams exchanged points until Endicott held match point at 24-23. Endicott had match point a second time at 25-24 before three straight Plymouth State points evened the match at 2-2.
In the fifth and deciding set, Plymouth State led 7-1 before an Endicott run made it 9-7. The Panthers, however, won six of the final seven points to advance to the championship match.
Gulls sophomore Callie Dolan (Westford, Mass.) had a career-high 20 kills to go along with five blocks to lead Endicott. Junior Falyn Torelli (Pelham, N.Y.) and senior captain Elyse Barbour (Greenville, R.I.) contributed with 12 and 11 kills, respectively.
Freshman middle Hannah Dahlgren (Queensbury, N.Y.) made five blocks while junior libero Ashley Norley (Sudbury, Mass.) had a match-high 34 digs. Endicott’s setter, senior captain Sarah Allshouse (Berthoud, Colo.) led the way with a match-high 46 assists.
