Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Western New England swept visiting Endicott by set scores of 25-18, 25-15, 25-13 on Senior Day Saturday at the Alumni Healthful Living Center, clinching the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming Commonwealth Coast Conference Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament. With the win, the Golden Bears improve to 19-11 to end the regular season and 7-1 in the CCC. The Gulls, meanwhile, will be the fourth seed in the conference's quarterfinal round after dropping to 15-15 overall and 5-3 in the conference.

Kasey Cameron led a strong overall performance by the Golden Bears dominated by their senior class. She had match-high 12 kills (.286) and added seven digs, Grace Kucharski registered 17 digs to lead all players, Carolyn Hajdusek had six kills on a match-best .417 attack percentage, and Kendra Ouimette contributed four service aces and four digs.

For the Gulls, Elise Morgan had six kills, Alleigh VandeMerkt dished 15 assists and Cydney Pierce produced 13 digs.

Western New England outplayed Endicott in virtually every aspect: 40 to 16 in kills, .267 hitting percentage to minus-.058, 34 to 15 in assists, 10 to 4 in aces and 51 to 41 in digs. The Gulls had five team blocks to the Golden Bears' four.

Western New England led wire-to-wire in grabbing a commanding 2 sets to none lead. In the opener, WNE held leads of 5-1 and 11-4 before the Gulls scored four consecutive points to make it 11-8. Following a WNE timeout, the Golden Bears reeled off a 7-0 run to go up 18-8 en route to the seven-point first-set win. The hosts raced to a 5-0 lead in the second frame on three Gulls attack errors. The advantage soon ballooned to 11-2 behind three Cameron kills. The Gulls managed to close within 14-8 but Hajdusek went cross-court for a kill to spark an 11-7 run to end the second set.

Trying to get back into the match, Endicott took the lead for the first time in the third stanza. A WNE hitting error put the Gulls up 2-1 and the teams alternated points until Olivia Lathrop (4 kills, .273) tied it 5-all with a kill for WNE. Lathrop added another kill to put the Golden Bears ahead to stay for good, ending the match by scoring 21 of the next 29 points.

Western New England will host a CCC Semifinal on Thursday against an opponent to be determined. Endicott will host the University of New England in a CCC quarterfinals matchup on Tuesday.

More details to come later...