Felicetti overcomes adversity to become key contributor for Endicott College volleyball

Learning a new position. A broken left ankle.

Certainly some adversity involved in both of those circumstances.

Yet neither has stopped Gabe Felicetti from excelling at Endicott College, where he's heading into his senior year as a decorated member of the perennially strong Gulls volleyball team.

Felicetti, a natural right-side hitter, spent his freshman year adjusting to a new spot on the court: middle blocker. Last spring, he blossomed in that role as a junior, earning Northeast All-Region honors as well as being an All-New England Collegiate Conference first-team pick.

He wasn't at full strength, either, still dealing with a balky left ankle that he broke the season before.

"I was out of shape; my jumping wasn't 100 percent," the 2017 Chariho High graduate said. "I played well, but I feel like I could've played better."

Better than all-region?

That's not good news for the rest of the NECC, a Division III athletic conference that includes the likes of Elms College (Chicopee, Mass.), Southern Vermont College (Bennington, Vt.) and Lesley University (Cambridge, Mass.).

The Gulls went 13-3 last season before the coronavirus pandemic shut things down and ended their bid to defend the NECC title, which they had won six times in the previous seven seasons. And the 6-5, 185-pound Felicetti was an integral part of their success.

Three times he had 11 kills or more, including a season-high 17 in a 3-2 victory over Stevens (which helped him earn NECC player of the week honors). He finished with per-set averages of 2.0 kills and 0.63 blocks, and his hitting percentage of .425 was tops in the conference and fourth in the country.

Endicott had just had a 10-match winning streak snapped by St. John Fisher when the season was snuffed out by the virus.

"We were a really strong team hitting-wise," Felicetti said of the Gulls, who were ranked ninth in NCAA D-III when the season ended. "We were able to move the ball around. Having strong hitters on the whole team is pretty good. You don't have every blocker camping out on one guy. Plus we had a strong bench.

"It was definitely very sad" that the season was cut short, he added. "We had an idea it would happen. It was really sad, but it happened to everyone. You just gotta roll with the punches."

At Chariho, Felicetti started all four years and was a two-time All-State pick as an outside hitter. He was also a valuable contributor for the basketball team, helping the Chargers win the Division III title his junior season.

Once at Endicott, his volleyball position was switched from outside to the middle.

"It took my whole freshman year to get it," Felicetti said. "Everything is completely different than playing right-side or outside."

But with the help of setters, upperclassmen and coaches, he was able to make the adjustment, he said, and by his sophomore year he was starting and has since "flourished" in the role, according to coach George Chapell. (Felicetti's current career hitting percentage of .478 is the best in program history.)

"It kind of plays more into my natural talent," Felicetti said. I like playing right-side, but playing middle is just jump high, hit hard. It's like really fun to get into it. Not too much of a technical part."

Unfortunately, midway through his sophomore season, during a March 2 match against Elms, he broke his left ankle when he landed on a teammate's foot.

Felicetti was only able to play five sets the rest of the regular season. His spirits hit a low point during the team's spring break trip to California for matches against Westcliff and Cal Lutheran.

"It wasn't like I could run or lift or anything, because I couldn't walk," he said. "I was still in the boot hobbling around. Everything about that injury messed with me."

Felicetti returned to the lineup for good during the NECC tournament and helped the Gulls reclaim the conference crown they had given up the season before. Endicott beat defending champion Elms, 3-1, on the road for the title.

Felicetti said the victory was made more special by the number of Gulls fans who made the trip to Chicopee.

"Everybody hung out afterward and it was really fun," he said. "I've never seen my team that happy and that excited, especially the guys who had lost it the year before."

Endicott followed by hosting two matches in the NCAA D-III tourney, winning its opener before falling 3-2 in the quarterfinals to fourth-ranked SUNY New Paltz, 19-17 in the fifth set. The Gulls finished the 2019 season ranked No. 8 and with a 26-7 record. The wins were the second most in program history.

Felicetti said the national tournament experience was a career highlight.

"It was the most fun thing," he said. "The stands were absolutely packed, and the matches were great. I love that hard competition; I love playing tough teams. It's way more fun like that."

Felicetti's now setting his sights on his senior year — a bioengineering major, he posted a 3.6 gpa last semester — and the 2021 volleyball season at the Beverly, Mass., school. He's spent the summer staying sharp by playing volleyball on weekends with his club team (Blast Volleyball out of North Kingstown), maintaining his fitness by going to the Westerly YMCA and working as a surfing teacher at Warm Winds surf shop in Narragansett.

And his ankle is finally healed.

"I'm just getting back to 100 percent nowadays," he said. "I've been playing a lot of outdoor — sand, grass, on the beach. You gotta stay in shape. I hope everyone else is doing the same."