BRISTOL, R.I. – Fresh off a four-set, comeback victory over Western New England University on Thursday night, the Roger Williams University Women's Volleyball team prepares to clash with Endicott College with a Commonwealth Coast Conference Title on the line on Saturday afternoon. It will be the fourth consecutive season that the teams will meet in the CCC Tournament, with two of the three previous bouts also occurring in the conference finals.
 
"It is always exciting to make it to the championship game," Head Coach Danielle Davis said. "This game is only part of our team's goal, so it is not a surprise that the battled to get to this point."
 
Roger Williams caught fire when they began conference play in late September, winning nine of their final 13 games in the regular season, going 7-2 in CCC play, and earning they second seed in the CCC playoffs. From there they just kept their momentum rolling sweeping Suffolk University in the first round before dispatching WNE on Thursday.
 
"WNE did not make it easy, it was a fun battle," Davis said. "They exposed our weaknesses right away, but we responded quickly in the second set. The biggest takeaway is that its playoff season and so no point and no set is going to be easy. You cannot take any points off because the other team will take advantage. My team learned what it takes to turn it up a notch."
 
None of that matters to the Gulls however, as they stand at 20-8 this fall, have not lost in CCC play, and have won 10 of their last 11 matches coming in. They have continued steamrolling the competition in the playoffs as they have yet to drop a set in the postseason and they have only dropped three sets in CCC play all year.
 
For The Hawks
Roger Williams enters the postseason as maybe the top defensive team in the Commonwealth Coast Conference as they have paced the CCC in blocks per set (2.18) and digs per set (16.27) in conference play while posting a quality .893 receiving percentage overall this fall. They pair that with a balanced offensive attack to form one of the most complete teams in the CCC.
 
Co-CCC Player of the Year Katherine Pickard leads the way for RWU. She leads the conference in with a whopping 3.94 kills per set while also contributing defensively at the net and on the back row. She ranks fourth on the team and 27^th in the conference with 2.30 digs per set while adding 0.48 blocks per set, good for third on the roster and 16^th in the CCC.
 
Joining Pickard on the outside are Kristen Dansereau (Killingworth, Conn.) and Allie Welch (Marlborough, Conn.). Dansereau is second on the team and 20^th in the CCC with 2.14 kills per stanza from the left side. Welch, meanwhile, will be found manning the right side of the court for RWU and is not far behind Dansereau averaging 1.96 kills per set, good for 23^rd in the CCC.
 
The true key players are in the middle in Tori Melanson (North Attleboro, Mass.) and Jasmine Babbitt (Charlestown, Mass.). Melanson was an all-conference second team selection after posting 1.75 kills per set while hitting .347, the fourth best in the CCC, and adding 0.79 blocks, the fourth most in the conference. She is also the team's top server with a team-high 24 service aces. Babbitt was named to the All-CCC Third Team by ranking second in the league with 0.84 blocks and 1.36 kills per set while hitting .295, the sixth highest in the CCC. Furthermore, where they go, the Hawks go, as Melanson averages 1.92, and Babbitt averages 1.78 kills per set in RWU wins but those numbers drop to 1.57 and 0.92 kills per set respectively in Roger Williams losses this fall.
 
Setting up all these players is the All-CCC Second Team honoree, Kate Porter (Killingworth, Conn.) who leads the CCC with 9.50 assists per set, a mark that is the highest the RWU Volleyball has seen since 2011. She has also added 22 service aces, 2.68 digs per frame, and even 0.51 kills per set for the Hawks this season. In addition, she recorded her 1,000 career assist in the Hawks' win over Western New England in the CCC Semis.
 
Offensively, RWU gets contributions from a lot of different players from a lot of different spots on the court, but their biggest strength is on defense where they are led by CCC Libero of the Year Jaime Gaffga (Mattituck, N.Y.). She is good in the service game where she has 17 aces, and is a good secondary setter, averaging 0.71 per set, but she is exceptional at receiving. She is second in the conference with 4.68 digs per stanza but does so with an elite, .954 reception percentage, committing just 16 errors in 349 attempts.
 
The senior duo of Kate Grabowski (Hebron, Conn.) and Lauren Burbidge (Cazenovia, N.Y.) will also contribute as defensive specialists. Grabowski is third on the team with 2.39 digs per set while Burbidge has pitched in 2.04 per frame, the fifth most on the roster while also playing a role in the service game with 11 aces, all of those coming in the team's last eight games including six across their first two postseason contests.
 
For The Gulls
Endicott College has been undisputedly the best team in the Commonwealth Coast Conference this season. Under the guidance of CCC Coach of the Year Tim Byram, they are leading the conference in kills per set (12.13), hitting percentage (.235), and assists per set (11.41) while also ranking third in blocks per frame (1.64). While they are eighth in digs per set with 13.31, they do not have a lot of chances due to the efficiency of their offense and still own an .877 receiving percentage.
 
The front line of the Gulls has simply been dominant this fall and is led by CCC Rookie of the Year, Riley Donohue (South Windsor, Conn.). Donohue is second on the team and 11^th in the conference with 2.81 kills per set but does so while hitting .202. She has also pitched in 2.29 digs per frame and is a factor in the service game with 27 aces this fall.
 
Joining Donohue on the All-CCC First Team are fellow outside hitters Amanda Gilbert (Hopkinton, Mass.) and Colleen McAvoy (Coventry, Conn.). Gilbert leads the Gulls and is ninth in the CCC with 2.92 kills per set while hitting .240, notching 2.42 digs per frame, and adding 32 aces. McAvoy, meanwhile, is a force as she has 2.10 kills per set while slugging at a healthy .429 clip and ranking second on the team and sixth in the conference with 0.73 blocks.
 
Endicott will also receive contributions from Krystina Schueler (Trumbull, Conn.) who ranks fourth on the roster with 1.95 kills per set. Meanwhile Nicole Winkler (Southborough, Mass.) contributes 1.12 kills per frame while also being the team's top blocker, with 0.75 blocks per set, the fifth most in the CCC.
 
Endicott can hit you from anywhere and setting them all up is the All-CCC Second Team selection, Lauren McGrath (Franklin, Mass.). She has posted 5.62 assists per frame this fall while adding 1.71 digs per stanza.
 
While the Gulls get digs from a number of players, their top defender is Alexandra Tecun (Hawthorne, Calif.) who is 12^th in the CCC with 3.02 digs per set. Meanwhile, Emma Ruel (Duxbury, Mass.) will likely serve as the team's libero and is 14^th in the conference with 2.68 digs per frame.
 
Previous Matchups
These are without a doubt two of the top programs in the Commonwealth Coast Conference so they encounter each other quite a bit including the past three seasons in the CCC Tournament. Endicott has won five of the last eight matchups overall including the 2019 and 2017 championship games. However, it was RWU who knocked out the Gulls in the semifinals in 2018.
 
When they met about three weeks ago in Bristol, Endicott did come away with a win in straight sets. The Hawks struggled, posting just a .139 hitting percentage, their third lowest of the season. Pickard led all players with 14 kills but did not get a ton of help in that one while McAvoy had 12 kills and Gilbert pitched in 10.
 
How To Follow Along
The scheduled start time for the match is 1:00 PM on Saturday afternoon inside the MacDonald Gymnasium on the campus of Endicott College.
 
If you cannot make it in person, you can follow along online.
 
VIDEO: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ecgulls/
 
LIVE STATS: https://ecgulls.com/sports/wvball/2021-22/boxscores/20211106_mnkr.xml