WORCESTER -- The WPI volleyball team opened the 2023 season with a 3-1 defeat at the hands of three-time defending CCC Champion Endicott at home in Harrington Auditorium on Friday night. The Gulls took the match 25-23, 23-25, 25-12, 25-15 to start the year, 1-0.
 
For WPI, sophomore Audrey Stroupe (Leesburg, VA) led the team with 11 kills, while senior Olivia Deckers (Marlboro, MA) notched a double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs. Junior Lily Eldridge (Danvers, MA) also tallied a double-double with 25 assists and 14 digs.
 
Julia Giroux (Bedford, NH) led Endicott with a 10-kill, 15-dig double-double, while Krystina Schueler (Trumbull, CT) also tied for team-high honors with 10 kills. Hadley Helenbrook (Atlanta, GA) narrowly missed a double-double with nine kills and 10 digs. Savannah Cambell (Soquel, CA) dished out 42 assists, while Emma Ruel (Duxbury, MA) had 26 digs, both match highs. 
 
Endicott went up 1-0 with a 25-23 win in the first set, recording 10 kills and holding the Engineers to a .091 attack. Trailing 23-20, WPI tied the first set at 23-23, but the Gulls got a Schueler kill and an Engineers error to take it, 25-23. 
 
WPI tied the match at 1-1, taking an equally tight set two, 25-23, forcing eight Endicott errors in the frame. The hosts trailed 19-13, but rallied to tie the set at 23-23 before WPI got the final two points, including a set-winning kill from Stroupe to even the match. 
 
The final two sets were all Endicott, as the Gulls hit .292 to win the third, 25-12, and a massive .433 in the final frame, winning it 25-15.
 
WPI returns to action tomorrow morning with a pair of matches at Wentworth. The Engineers take on the host Leopards at 11am before playing Elms at 1pm. Endicott returns to the court on Tuesday at Simmons at 7pm. 
 
Box Score