GULLS STOP SAINTS IN ECAC QUARTERFINALS

BEVERLY, Mass.- The Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Women's Volleyball Championship opened Wednesday evening with the third-seeded Gulls of Endicott College playing host to the sixth-seeded Saints of Emmanuel College.  The Gulls advanced to the tournament semifinals with a 3-0 sweep of the Saints and will now face No. 2 Western New England University on Saturday.  Emmanuel's season ends with the Saints holding an impressive 23-14 overall record for the 2013 campaign.

The first set of Wednesday night's quarterfinal action would prove to be tight as Endicott would go up seven mid-way through the set before giving up a 10-3 run to see the match tied at 23-all.  The Gulls closed out the set with two kills by Lexi Watts (San Diego, Calif.) to take the first 25-23.  Mackenzie Guerre (Carlsbad, Calif.) led Endicott in the first with four kills and a .375 average while Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) and Callie Dolan (Westford, Mass.) each finished with three kills apiece.

The second set saw the Gulls jump out to a quick 8-2 lead while forcing Emmanuel coach Denitra Seals to take a timeout just 10 points in.  The hosts were hitting .500 prior to the timeout, while holding Emmanuel to -.111 hitting.  The Gulls continued their offensive surge, maintaining an eight point lead when Seals took her second timeout down 20-12.  At this point, Watts had eclipsed the 10 kill-mark and was hitting. 529.  Following the timeout, Endicott used great ball control and serving to nullify the Saints' offense, while feeding Guerre in the middle as she put down three-straight kills to close the set at 25-15. 

The third set was played closely until roughly midway through, as the score stood knotted at 14-all.  However, Endicott then went on an 11-3 run to close the game with a 25-17 win and finish the 3-0 sweep. 

The Gulls were led by Guerre's match high 16 kills and .519 average as the sophomore middle recorded her kills on 27 attempts with two errors.  Close behind her was Watts with 11 kills.  The opposite hit .391 to go along with five digs.  Callie Dolan and Tori McIntyre also had impressive offensive evenings as Dolan tallied 10 kills, while hitting .250 and McIntyre finished with seven kills, a .294 average and seven digs.  Alleigh VandeMerkt set a fantastic match as she orchestrated the team's offense brilliantly.  The setter notched 43 assists and chipped in with two aces as she guided the team to a .298 average.  Freshman libero Erika Trudon was dominant defensively, finishing with a match high 22 digs and four aces.

For the Saints, opposite Sarah Colby (West Barnstable, Mass.) had a great offensive showing as she finished with a team-high 8 kills hitting at a .471 clip.  Her average was a result of her eight kills coming on 17 errorless swings.  Setter Shannon Dudley (Morro Bay, Calif.) picked up 22 assists in the setback and also chipped in with eight digs defensively.  Rookie outside hitter Cassie Chruscielski (Duluth, Minn.) had a solid all-around match as she finished second on the team in kills with seven and first in digs with 10.  Freshman Kaitlyn Atkinson (Brookline, N.H.) put forth an impressive blocking performance, sending back two solo blocks and two assist blocks, to go with her six kills.

With the win, Endicott improves to 23-15 and will now face #2 Western New England in a rematch of their regular season contest in which Endicott lost in five.  Emmanuel closes their season with a 23-14 record overall, an improvement of nine wins and four less losses from 2012's 14-18 campaign.

In other ECAC action, #1 Salve Regina swept #8 Emerson, #2 WNE swept #7 UNE, and #4 Smith swept #5 Framingham State, to all advance to the tournament semifinals. 

- Release courtesy of Endicott College Sports Information