Statistics

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Endicott College bounced back from dropping the opening set and did just enough to slip past the University of New England women's volleyball team by a 3-1 margin (22-25, 25-20, 26-24, 25-22) in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) showdown on Coach Beaudry's Court inside the Harold Alfond Forum Tuesday night (Oct. 11).

The Gulls (14-4, 5-0 CCC) -- who are receiving votes in the national coaches poll -- remain atop the conference standings with the win, while the Nor'easters settle at 5-12 overall and 2-3 in CCC outings with the setback.

All four frames were neck-and-neck, featuring one-point differences with a team at 20 points or later. On the evening, there were 28 ties and 18 lead-changes.

Amanda Gilbert led Endicott with match-highs of 16 kills and 20 digs. The visiting attack was balanced after that, collecting nine kills from both Colleen McAvoy and Kelsey Sanborn, and eight apiece out of Sophie Breitenbach and Krystina Schueler. McAvoy posted a .562 hitting percentage without any miscues, dropped in three service aces, and factored in six of the squad's 11 blocks for a total of 15.5 points. A combined 44 assists came from Ella Koelb and Lauren McGrath, and Alexandra Tecun contributed 18 digs on the back end.

For UNE, Lauren Davenport racked up a match-best 22.5 points -- largely behind 14 kills and seven aces -- and picked up a team-high 17 digs to register a double-double. Grace Mueller notched nine kills with a .444 attack rate, and two of her five blocks were solo stuffs. Kailyn Reilly added eight winners and had a hand in six blocks, while Olivia Hand chipped in with six kills. Addie Miller also produced a double-double of 34 assists and 12 digs. Defensively, the Nor'easters got 14 and 13 digs, respectively, from Griffin Chaffin-Quiray and Morgan Lynch.

The hosts outscored their opponent overall, 72-69, but also committed 10 more unforced errors than the Gulls.

UNE trailed 20-16 in the 1st set, but an EC error and ace by Mina Regnery sparked an 8-0 run to flip the advantage for the hosts (24-20). The Nor'easters ripped six straight kills to cap the spurt, including three from Davenport and two by Mueller. The Gulls got a couple back before Davenport shut the door with her seventh kill of the period. Both sides were highly efficient striking the ball early on, with a combined 33 kills against just seven swinging errors in the session.

A 6-0 stretch by Endicott in the initial stages of the 2nd provided a 10-5 cushion, and UNE couldn't quite make up that ground. Back-to-back kills from Viktoria Pavlyuk pulled UNE within 20-19, but the Gulls maintained control and leveled the match. Sanborn tallied a pair of winners in the waning moments.

The Nor'easters jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the 3rd, and were on top at 15-11, too, only to fall behind at 16-15 (and 17-16). UNE regained the edge to go up 24-22, however a service error and then kills from Breitenbach, Gilbert, and Sanborn allowed the Gulls to snag the set and move in front. Each group had their lowest hitting percentage of the match in the stanza (EC .114 / UNE .050).

After a 10-6 start to the 4th for the Nor'easters, the lone lead-change on the scoreboard occurred at 12-11 with a block by McAvoy and Breitenbach. From 19-14, things got substantially tighter (21-20) with six of the next eight going for the hosts. Following an Endicott timeout, UNE missed a serve (22-20) but came right back with a block from Mueller and Miller. An exchange of kills by McAvoy and Reilly kept the spread at one (23-22), until McAvoy knocked down two more to finish off the contest.

Last season over two matches (7 sets) against the eventually league champs, UNE averaged less than 14 points during the dropped sets. On Tuesday, that number improved greatly, to 22. Only once did the Gulls assume a lead as high as seven, and it was gone for good one point later.

The Nor'easters wrap up their three-match home stand on Saturday (6 p.m.) versus the University of Maine-Presque Isle.