Seahawks host Gulls in semifinal match

Summary: Salve Regina University women's volleyball enters the 2013 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championships as the second seed and will host third seed Endicott College on Thursday, November 7, at 7 p.m. Roger Williams earned the first seed with tiebreak procedures.

Match-up: #2 Salve Regina (25-3; 7-1 CCC) vs. #3 Endicott (20-14; 6-2 CCC)

Match date, time and site: Thu., Nov. 7, 2013; 7 p.m. @ Newport, R.I. (Rodgers Rec. Ctr.)

Video: http://bit.ly/16igmVp (Salve Regina women's volleyball on Ustream.tv)

Live stats: http://livestats.prestosports.com/salveregina

Directions: http://bit.ly/1c4fubM

Tickets: $5 (adults) and $2 (children); Salve Regina and visiting students with valid ID admitted free of charge

Series edge: Endicott leads, 14-2

Last Seahawk win in series: Salve Regina won, 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-19), on October 9, 2013

Last Gull win in the series: Endicott won, 3-2 (20-25, 25-17, 17-25, 25-21, 16-14) on September 9, 2012

Follow the tournament's interactive bracket

Follow the Seahawks on Twitter @SRUsportsinfo

• Salve Regina has won the last two meetings in this series, both 3-1 decisions.
• In last year's semifinal in Beverly, Mass., the Seahawks earned their first trip to the finals with a four-set victory (25-22, 25-23, 22-25, 25-19).
• Shortly after Endicott dealt Roger Williams its first loss of the 2013 season, Salve Regina took the Gulls in four sets to claim sole ownership of first place in the conference on October 9.
• Endicott had won the first 14 meetings in this series, including the first eight by 3-0 scores. The Seahawks managed one set in each of the next four meetings before another 3-0 victory for the Gulls in 2011.
• This is only the sixth time Endicott has visited Newport for a women's volleyball match.

• Salve Regina is 3-8 all-time in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championships.
• The first time the Seahawks qualified for the CCC postseason tournament was 2005, when they lost a quarterfinal match, 3-0, at Colby-Sawyer.
• This is the ninth straight season that Salve Regina has qualified for the CCC postseason.
• Five times (2005, 2007-2010) the Seahawks have traveled to New London, N.H., to face the Chargers in the quarterfinals.
• In 2010, Salve Regina took a set for the first time in postseason play, falling 3-1 at Colby-Sawyer.
• In 2011, the Seahawks broke through to host their first postseason contest and defeated Wentworth, 3-0, in quarterfinal action.
• After duplicating the quarterfinal result in 2012, Salve Regina had its first winning result in a CCC postseason road match, defeating Endicott College, 3-1. It was also the program's first-ever victory over the Gulls.
• Salve Regina reached the CCC championship game for the first time in 2012.

• Roger Williams has won the last four conference titles, including a 3-0 finals win over Salve Regina in 2012.
• Prior to the Hawk streak, Endicott had a three-year streak (2006-2008) and had won four in five years.
• Gordon College, with only one regular season win in conference play in 2013, won three straight league championships from 2000 to 2002.

• Salve Regina is unbeaten at home in the CCC postseason (2-0) with both victories coming against Wentworth in each of the last two playoffs (3-0 in 2011; 3-0 in 2012).

• 2013 CCC Coach of the Year, Lauren Parsons, on the match-up with Endicott: "Meeting Endicott in the semifinals is a road we have traveled before, now the roles are reversed, they are traveling to us.  Home court advantage or not they are going to be a tough team to beat. We have to make sure that we focus on the current game and not the ones in the past. Yes, we have beat them twice now but that doesn't mean a thing. They are gunning for us and want revenge. To be the best you have to beat the best and a match-up between the Gulls and the Seahawks couldn't be better. We are two evenly matched teams and it's going to come down to passing and defense. As long as we work hard and stay focused through every point we should come out with a win."

• Jennifer Duggan and Jill Diffendaffer each registered 11 kills while Taylor Violet dished out a match-high 32 assists to go along with 10 digs.
• Clare Adams had a solid all-around effort with 13 digs and eight kills while libero Dianna Tauro added 10 digs.

• Endicott rode the hot hand of middle Mackenzie Guerre as the sophomore led Endicott with 12 kills and led all players with a .400 hitting percentage (12-2-25).
• Guerre also led the team in blocks with two (one solo, one assist).
• It was the Gulls' middle presence that carried them as fellow middle Hayley Knapp was second on the team behind Guerre with five kills and a .308 average.
• Tori McIntyre tied with Knapp with five kills and also picked up six digs on the defensive side of the ball.

• This is only the 16th match ever played in November for Salve Regina; more specifically, the Seahawks have only played once on November 7 - last year they hosted Eastern Connecticut State University in an ECAC quarterfinal and won in five sets.
• Salve Regina is 1-1 in five-set matches this season (Roger Williams was the opponent on both occasions).

1. Roger Williams - 81 (9)
2. Western New England - 63
3. Salve Regina - 62
4. Endicott - 61
5. University of New England - 47
6. Gordon - 32
7. Wentworth - 25
8. Eastern Nazarene - 21
9. Curry - 1318

1. Roger Williams (7-1)
2. Salve Regina (7-1) ... Seahawks share regular-season title with Hawks, but CCC tiebreaker gives Roger Williams top seed
3. Endicott (6-2)
4. University of New England (5-3)
5. Western New England (5-3)
6. Eastern Nazarene (3-5)
7. Wentworth (2-6)
8. Gordon (1-7)
9. Curry (0-8)

Quarterfinals • Tuesday, November 5
#3 Endicott (20-14, 6-2) def. #6 Eastern Nazarene (15-16, 3-5), 3-0
#5 Western New England (21-8, 5-3) def. #4 University of New England (14-9, 5-3), 3-2

Semifinals • Thursday, November 7
#5 Western New England at #1 Roger Williams (28-3, 7-1 CCC), 7 p.m.
#3 Endicott at #2 Salve Regina (25-3, 7-1 CCC), 7 p.m.

Championship Match • Saturday, November 9
Semifinal Winners, 1 p.m. (at higher seed)