Wellesley Volleyball Falls to Endicott in Season-Opener

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- In the season-opener for both squads, Endicott College downed Wellesley College 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 17-25, 25-12, 15-7) on Saturday at Keohane Sports Center. The Gulls stand at 1-0, while Blue start the year at 0-1.

Tori McIntyre led the Endicott attack with 16 kills on 49 attempts. Elise Morgan and Hayley Knapp added 12 kills each, while Cydney Pierce chipped in 8. Erika Trudon led all players with 31 digs to anchor the Gulls defense, and Jessica Petrucci hammered six aces from the service line. Alliegh VandeMerkt tallied 43 assists in the win.

Courtney Lang pounded 16 kills for the Blue to go along with 19 digs. Caitlin Laughlin followed with 12 kills and three blocks, while Sydney Carfagno recorded 10 kills and a team-high 23 digs. Maddie Koh distributed 33 assists in the loss.

The first set proved to be the most hard-fought of the day, with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage until a McIntyre kill gave the visitors a 19-16 lead. Wellesley battled back with two kills from Laughlin and one from Brooke Fieldman to tie the score at 22-22. The Blue then took advantage of two Endicott errors to capture the opening set 25-23.

The Gulls jumped to an early lead in game two, capitalizing on a six-point Petrucci serving run to grab a 12-5 lead, eventually stretching the gap to 22-12. Wellesley surged late in the set with three kills from Lang and two from Laughlin, but fell 25-20.

The squads traded sideouts early in the third set, until Wellesley opened an 11-7 advantage midway through the game. Endicott answered with kills from Morgan and McIntyre to cut the lead to 11-10. Wellesley surged again, using kills from Fieldman, Carfagno, and Lindsey Menichlla to build a 22-14 advantage enroute to a 25-17 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

Endicott scored early and often in the fourth set, using tough serving and solid defense to keep the Blue off-balance. Pettruci again gave the Blue problems from the service line, with a five-point run, while Erika Trudon followed with another five-point serving run for Endicott. Meanwhile, the Gulls' offense began to click, as the visitors hit .344 as a team in set four, in route to 25-12.

In the fifth and deciding set Endicott jumped to a 6-0 lead, highlighted by two McIntyre kills. Wellesley's Carfagno stopped the bleeding with a kill, and followed with a two-point serviing run to trim the lead to 8-4. But that was as close as the Blue would get as the Gulls cruised to a 15-7, 3-2 win.

Wellesley volleyball returns to action at next weekend's Brandeis Invitational. The Blue will play three matches in the two-day tournament, starting with a 6:00pm clash against Rhode Island College on Friday. On Saturday, Wellesley will take on Williams College and the host Judges. Endicott also returns to the court at the Brandeis tournament.