Box Score
WENHAM, Mass. – The Gordon Volleyball team fell victim to a tough Endicott Gulls squad—losing 3-0 on the first night of Commonwealth Coast Conference competition. Endicott made things look easy early on, but the Scots fought back valiantly to make the match close in the end.
Endicott came into the match riding the high of beating some of the area's elite—the Gulls beat MIT and Connecticut College in a tournament last weekend—and they looked in rhythm early on in the match. Setter Alleigh VandeMerkt and outside-hitter Mackenzie Guerre hit on a couple of plays in the first set, sending the Gulls to an easy 25-10 victory.
Down 1-0 in the match, Gordon was not about to back away from the competition. The Scots and Gulls went back and forth in the second set, until Endicott pulled away over the final few points—ultimately winning 25-19 in the second set.
In the third set, Endicott looked to take control of the match once and for all. They got up on the Scots big in the final set—taking a 21-10 lead—but Gordon put together a maniacal rally to cut down the lead.
Gordon took 12 of the next 14 points to make it a 23-22 score in Endicott's favor. After a coach's timeout, the Gulls were able to settle down, and take the final two points to close out the straight-set victory.
The Gulls were led on offense by VandeMerkt (20 assists) and Guerre (7 kills), while libero Erika Trudon paced the Gulls' defense with 22 digs on the back end. Tori McIntyre posted the game-high hitting percentage by registering a .455 mark on 11 attempts.
Laura Schmidt (Stuart, Fla.) and Jessica Burdick (Brewerton, N.Y.) put up seven and six kills respectively from the outside. Joy Kimmel (Madison, Conn.) assisted 12 times on the night to add to her season total.
On defense, Maggie Risma (Hudson, Ohio) posted an eye-popping 33 digs on the evening to keep the match close in the final two sets.
Gordon (4-6) is back in action this weekend with a double-header against Castleton State and Green Mountain in Castleton, Vermont on Saturday.
