Nov. 3, 2005
BEVERLY, MA - Endicott College is going back to the Commonwealth Coast Conference title game for the second straight season. The No. 2 Gulls downed third-seeded Roger Williams, 3-0, Thursday night, earning a chance to defend their CCC title.
Each of the first two games was nip-and-tuck until the final moments. Endicott (23-14) pulled away each time for victories of 30-23 and 30-19.
The Hawks (19-8) came with everything they had in the game 3. Roger Williams enjoyed leads of 14-8 and 21-19 before Katelyn Smith (Ballston Lake, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) reeled off 10 straight points to help the hosts clinched a spot in the finals with a 30-24 victory.
Endicott will travel to top-seeded Colby-Sawyer for the CCC Tournament final Saturday (1). The Chargers defeated No. 4 Gordon College, 3-0 (30-20, 30-20, 30-20).
The defense of senior outside hitter Patty Mikan (Shelton, CT/St. Joseph's) and the steady two-way play of senior outside hitter Killeen Ross (Ballston Lake, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) guided the Gulls to victory. Mikan had six digs and two assists while Ross contributed nine kills and seven digs. The semifinal contest was the seniors' last at MacDonald Gymnasium.
Junior middle hitter Sara Moore (Guilford, CT/Guilford) and freshman outside hitter Kaylee Krom (Strasburg, CO/Strasburg) shared the team lead in kills (11) while Krom added nine digs and Moore had a block.
Sophomore setter Meghan Hall (Santa Cruz, CA/Aptos) handed out a game-high 38 assists to go along with four kills and 10 digs. Freshman libero Brittany Nolan (Monroe, CT/Masuk) had 14 digs to lead the hosts while freshman middle hitter Hayley Janelle (Madbury, NH/Oyster River) came up with four blocks and nine kills.
With the 14 digs, Nolan set a school record for digs in a season (559 digs in 116 games). She moves in front of 2004 graduate Katie Lorinovich (547 digs in 117 games).
Amy Maurer (Madbury, NH/Oyster River) led the Hawks with 11 kills while Erin Carolan (Newtown, CT/Newtown) added 10 kills and Kirsten Bosworth (Centerville, MA/Barnstable) had a team-high 30 assists.
Colby-Sawyer was a perfect 9-0 in the conference and put the only CCC regular season blemish on the Gulls' record, beating them 3-1 (24-30, 35-33, 30-21, 30-21) in a September tri-match at Roger Williams.