Endicott ends Salve Regina women's volleyball bid for league title

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women's volleyball team, the top seed in the 2016 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament, swept fifth seeded Salve Regina 3-0 in semifinal action on Thursday. With the win, the Gulls will host the championship on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

Endicott improves to 21-11 on the season while Salve Regina ends their campaign at 17-11.

The Gulls claimed the first set 25-18 behind a strong offensive performance in which the team hit .438 for the set. The Seahawks would strike first in the second set, jumping out to an eight point lead before the Gulls would rally back to win 25-22 and claim a 2-0 lead. In the third, the Endicott offense would be prove to be too much as the Gulls jumped out to a 21-7 lead before wrapping up the sweep with a 25-16 final in the third set.

Leading the way for Endicott was CCC Player of the Year Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) who posted a match-high 13 kills to go with seven digs in the win. Just behind her was junior Lauren Sheehan (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) who registered 12 kills and two assist blocks.

BEYOND THE BOX

• With the win, Endicott has advanced to the CCC Championship for the ninth time in program history. The Gulls' last championship appearance came during the 23-16 season in 2013.
• Setters Mareena Clotfelter (Poulsbo, Wash.) and Zoey Gifford (Natick, Mass.)combined for 40 of the team's 45 assists and 18 digs in the win. The duo guided the Endicott offense to a .266 average for the match that saw the Gulls log 47 kills in the win.
• Freshman Remi Quesnelle (Sunderland, Mass.) hit at a .312 clip for the match, notching eight kills on 16 attempts while also grabbing two assist blocks.
• Middle Erica Hadad (Salem, N.H.) led the Gulls with five assist blocks in the win as she also was error-free offensively with three kills on eight attempts.
• Libero Erika Trudon (Coventry, Conn.) led all home players with 13 digs in the win while Cydney Pierce (Carpinteria, Calif.) was just behind with nine.
• Endicott is now 18-4 all-time against Salve Regina including a 3-1 record in postseason play. 

FOR THE SEAHAWKS

• First Team All-CCC freshman Annie Donahue (Chelmsford, Mass.) was impressive offensively, hitting a team-high .444 on the match with eight kills on 18 swings.
• Junior outside Francesca Testani (Shelton, Conn.) finished the match with a team-best nine kills in the setback while setter Samantha Salwa (Ellington, Conn.) ended the season with a 26 assist, five dig effort.
• Libero Megan Parham (Tulsa, Okla.) was outstanding defensively as she finished with a match-high 19 digs.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott will host third seeded Western New England in the CCC Championship on Saturday, November 5 at 1:00 p.m. WNE advanced to the championship match with a 3-0 sweep of #7 UNE on Thursday.