Gulls Top Golden Bears in CCC Title Match, 3-0

Senior setter Jenna Leuck reaches 2000-assist mark in her final collegiate match

BEVERLY, Mass. (November 5, 2016) – The third-seeded Western New England University volleyball team had its run in the 2016 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament ended with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-19) loss to top-seeded Endicott College this afternoon in the championship match at MacDonald Gymnasium.

Endicott (22-11) earns the CCC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, which gets underway next Friday (Nov. 11), while Western New England's season comes to a close at 21-10.

Top Performers
• Junior middle hitter Carly Skibinski (Milford, N.J.) led the Western New England offense, hitting .227 with eight kills.
• Senior setter Jenna Leuck (Dumont, N.J.) reached the 2000-assist mark for her career in her final collegiate match with 26 this afternoon.
• Junior outside hitter Emmaline Chiodini (St. Louis, Mo.) finished with six kills, ten digs and two block assists.

• Sophomore outside hitter Emma Mancini (Lynnfield, Mass.) paced the Gulls, hitting .412 with a match-high 16 kills and 11 digs.
• CCC Player of the Year Tori McIntyre (San Diego, Calif.) added 13 kills and eight digs for Endicott.

Match Review
• Endicott won the first four points of the opening set on its way to an early 7-1 lead. The Golden Bears battled back to within two points on two separate occasions (10-8, 18-16), but they were unable to close the gap. The Gulls posted a late 4-0 run with two kills by Mancini to open up a 22-16 lead, en route to a 25-20 win in frame one.
• Western New England again faced an early deficit in the second set (7-2), and the Golden Bears again fought back, holding a 14-13 lead following a kill by Chiodini. Trailing 15-14, Endicott took control of the frame with a 6-0 run that saw the home team claim a 20-16 advantage. Western New England was unable to pull closer than three points the rest of the way, falling into an 2-0 hole in the match.
• The tightly contested third set saw the Golden Bears tie the score at 12 on a kill by Skibinski midway through the frame, before Endicott answered with a 4-0 run. Western New England continued to fight pulling back to within one (17-16) on another Skibinski kill, but the Gulls responded again with a 4-0 run. The Golden Bears were unable to recover this time, as Endicott completed the 3-0 sweep.

Notes
• Western New England was making just its second appearance in the CCC Championship match in program history, with the other coming in 2009.
• Endicott hit .385 in the second set and .316 in the third, finishing with a .291 clip overall. The Golden Bears hit .093 for the match.
• Chiodini posted her tenth consecutive 10+ dig performance.