Box Score
BEVERLY – Facing a Tufts Jumbos women's volleyball team that was ranked #4 in New England, Endicott mounted a comeback after falling behind two sets to win 3-2 (19-25, 14-25, 25-23, 27-25, 15-13) at MacDonald Gymnasium Wednesday night.
Endicott is now 12-11 overall and will move on to face both Coast Guard Academy and Connecticut College in a non-conference tri-match down in New London, Connecticut on Saturday starting at 2:00 pm. Tufts travels to the Hall of Fame Tournament in South Hadley, Mass. hosted by Mount Holyoke. They will face Westfield State, Springfield and Williams over the course of two days.
In this match, Tufts won the first two sets in convincing fashion and led 16-10 in the third set before Endicott started their comeback. The Gulls would take 12 of the next 16 points to earn a lead before taking the third set.
In the fourth set, the Gulls trailed 24-22 but back-to-back kills by sophomore Falyn Torelli (Pelham, NY) forced a win-by-two situation. The Jumbos took the next point on a kill to go up 25-24, but three straight kills by Elyse Barbour (Greenville, RI), Torelli and then Sarah Allshouse (Berthoud, CO) evened up the score at 2-2.
Tufts came out strong in the fifth set, holding an 8-2 advantage before the two teams switched sides. Endicott chipped away at the Tufts lead and then used a five-point serving streak by Ashley Norley (Sudbury, MA) to put the Gulls in a position to win. Endicott ended the match on a kill by Barbour to take the deciding set 15-13.
Endicott's defense down the stretch was critical in the come-from-behind victory as five different players recorded double digit kills. The Gulls blocking was a factor as well as 12.0 team blocks were made and three players had at least five stops at the net.
Junior libero Ashley Norley led all players with a match-high 23 digs with both senior Sarah Allshouse and sophomore Carly Beers (Traverse City, MI) adding 19 digs each to Endicott's defensive effort.
Freshman middle blocker Hannah Dahlgren (Queensbury, MA) had two solo and four assisted blocks while Callie Dolan (Westford, MA) and Elyse Barbour had five assisted blocks apiece.
For Tufts, first year outside hitter Hayley Hopper (Carlsbad, CA) was a force on the attack for the Jumbos with a match-high 22 kills and a .286 hit percentage. Teammates Kelly Brennan (Burr Ridge, IL) and Cara Spieler (Santa Barbara, CA) each contributed with 17 and 16 kills in the loss.
Defensively for the Jumbos, Spieler led her squad with 22 digs and libero Audrey Kuan (Los Altos, CA) recorded 20 digs for the visitors. First year middle blocker Isabel Kuhel (Brisbane, CA) did her part defensively at the net with five assisted blocks.
Match statistics
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Match release courtesy of Endicott College
