Box Score

BEVERLY, Mass. -- Tori McIntyre and three teammates combined for 34 kills to lead Endicott College to a 3-0 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's volleyball victory over the University of New England on Tuesday evening (Oct. 28) at MacDonald Gymnasium. Set scores were 25-15, 25-16, and 25-14.

With the win, the Gulls (15-14) move ahead of the Nor'easters (11-14) in the league standings at 5-2 and 4-3, respectively. Both conclude the regular season with tough matches on Saturday (1 p.m.) -- EC heads for Western New England University (6-1 CCC), and UNE welcomes in Salve Regina University (5-2 CCC).

McIntyre finished with 11 kills, 11 digs, and three aces to pace the home side. Elise Morgan and Lexi Watts each tallied eight kills, while Hayley Knapp added seven winners. Knapp and Watts accounted for nearly all six of the team's blocks. Alleight VandeMerkt dialed up 34 assists to go with three aces, and Cydney Pierce accumulated 23 digs.

Big Blue received seven kills apiece from senior Leah Janelle and sophomore Grayson Szczepaniak, and first-year Brooke Gibbons guided the attack with 14 assists. Defensively, first-year Teddi Kramer had 11 digs and sophomore Nikki Mathewson picked up 10 more.

After UNE opened the match with three of the first four points, Endicott rattled off 10 unanswered to seize control. A 6-3 stretch by the Nor'easters, which included three of Szczepaniak's five winners in the initial set, narrowed the gap to five (14-9), but it would get no closer.

The Gulls raced out to an 8-0 cushion in the 2nd frame, but later at 18-7, UNE chalked up nine of the next 11 points to cut the margin to just four (20-16). EC, however, notched the ensuing five to cap the set.

Another 8-0 start in the 3rd put the Gulls well on their way to the sweep. McIntyre registered more than half (6) of her kills in the closing stanza.