WENHAM, Mass. - The second-seeded Endicott women's volleyball team claimed its third straight Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) title with an emphatic 3-0 sweep of cross-town rival Gordon on the road on Saturday afternoon. The Gulls won by set scores of 25-20, 25-18 and 25-22 to improve to 22-8 overall as they now await the NCAA DIII Tournament selection show which is set for Monday at 1 PM. The CCC title represents Endicott's third straight, fifth in the last six seasons.
Against Gordon, Endicott finished the match holding an edge in nearly every statistical category including kills (40-37), hitting percentage (.292-.209), assists (38-34), aces (10-5), blocks (8-6) and points (58-48). Orchestrating the dominant offensive performance was Lauren McGrath (Franklin, Mass.) who filled the stat sheet with 35 assists, eight digs, two aces and a kill.
Leading the offensive charge was Amanda Gilbert (West Falmouth, Mass.) as she posted a double-double, finishing the match with a match-high 14 kills and a match-high 11 digs, while also leading all players with three aces. Fellow-graduate student Colleen McAvoy (Coventry, Conn.) finished tied for the match-high with her .500 average (minimum 10 attempts) after posting six kills on 10 swings with one error. McAvoy also finished with three blocks and two aces, which were both tied for second on the team.
Sophie Breitenbach (Newport, R.I.) shined at opposite throughout, finishing with 10 kills and just two errors on 20 attempts to hit .400 for the match. The freshman also finished tied with McAvoy with three blocks, trailing only Krystina Schueler (Trumbull, Conn.) who led the match with five blocks. Schueler also posted a .429 afternoon after notching four kills on seven attempts. Freshman Kelsey Sanborn (Londonderry, N.H.) finished with five kills of her own to go with a block in the sweep.
The back row of Emma Ruel (Duxbury, Mass.), Alexandra Tecun (Hawthorne, Calif.) and Amelia Beigel (Amherst, Mass.) finished with a combined 11 digs and strong receive all afternoon that allowed the attack to be in system throughout.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The 2022 title represents Endicott's ninth CCC title in program history since joining the conference in 1999, the most of any CCC member.
- The senior class of Emily Powell (Nassau, N.Y.), McGrath, Schueler and Tecun finish their four years winning all three CCC titles (2019, 2021 & 2022) that were played.
- During those three seasons, Endicott has accumulated an overall record of 66-25 (.725) and a conference record of 25-1 (.962).
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (22-8) now awaits the NCAA DIII Women's Volleyball Tournament Selection Show which is scheduled for Monday at 1 PM to find out their next opponent. Gordon (16-14) seees its season come to a close.
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(Photo Credit - Demetrius Kazanas '22)
