Seahawks advance to finals with record-setting win over Gulls

BEVERLY, Mass. - Led by CCC All-Second team honorees Jennifer Duggan (Merrimack, N.H.) and Megan Clancy (Chelmsford, Mass.), the Salve Regina women's volleyball team earned its first-ever victory over Endicott, defeating the Gulls 3-1 during a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship tournament semfinals match on Thursday night. With the win, the Seahawks set a new program record for wins in a season, improving to 17-13 overall and advancing to the CCC Championship finals this Saturday when they will face top-seeded Roger Williams.

Salve was able to take sets one and two by scores of 25-22 and 25-23 before Endicott took the third 23-25.  The Seahawks were able to build a lead of 12-4 in the fourth that proved to be too much for the Gulls to overcome as Salve took the fourth and final set 25-19.  Duggan and Clare Adams (Now Concord, Ohio) were relentless on the offensive end as the duo combined for 32 of Salve's 62 kills.  Duggan recorded 19 kills on 56 attempts with seven errors for a .214 average.

Duggan was also everywhere on defense as she was able to pick up 18 digs on the night.  Adams picked up 13 kills on 53 swings in the match and also impressed on defense as she picked up 17 digs.  Megan Clancy recorded a season-high in digs with 36 as the libero read the Gulls offense well.  Taylor Violet (Tiverton, R.I.) was effective as the sophomore setter was able to tally a match and career-high 55 assists as she ran the offense well. 

Endicott was led offensively by Guerre and Dolan as the duo combined for 32 kills.  Guerre was able to record her 16 kills on 41 attempts with five errors for a .268 average.  Dolan was absolutely outstanding in the final match of her junior year as the outside picked up her 16 kills with only just one error on 37 attempts for an average of .405.  Those two performances were not enough as the Gulls were only able to hit .113 for the match compared to Salve's .157. 

Ashley Norley (Sudbury, Mass.) saved the best performance of her career for last as the libero shattered Endicott's dig record for a single match by recording 41 digs on the night.  The previous match high was 37 digs set by Brittany Nolan in 2005 in a five set match.  The previous record for digs in a four set match was 33 which Norley accomplished earlier this year against Bowdoin.  Norley finishes her storied career in second place all time at Endicott with 2,267 digs.

With the loss, Endicott now wraps up the season with a 12-20 record overall.  The Gulls were 6-2 in conference during the regular season.  Salve Regina, the #3 seed in the tournament, improves their record to 17-13 on the season and will travel to the #1 seed Roger Williams on Saturday at 1 p.m.  

Courtesy of EC Sports Information