BEVERLY, Mass.- Coming off of a 2013 campaign in which they posted 20 wins for the seventh time in the last 10 seasons, the women's volleyball team looks to regain their championship form in 2014 and they have loaded up their schedule with regionally and nationally ranked teams to prepare for a deep post season run. Last season saw the team better their 2012 record by 11 wins and saw them fall in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) championship match for the fourth time in five years. The Gulls, who finished last season ranked 11th in New England, are hoping that 2014 sees them get back to the top and claim their fifth CCC title.
The season kicks off on Saturday, August 30th as they travel to Wellesley for a tri-match that also includes St. Anselm's. The Gulls have a tough start facing the Blue of Wellsley, a team they are 1-9 against all-time and who finished last year ranked #4 in New England. 2013 saw the Blue and Gulls go extra sets but Wellesley came out on top, 3-1. Endicott's lone win came in 2011 at Wellesley as the Gulls edged out a five set thriller. Endicott, who is 1-1 against St. Anselm's, also recorded their lone victory of the series in five, a win that came last season.
Endicott then takes nearly a week off before playing host to the Endicott Invitational on the following Friday and Saturday. September 5th sees the Gulls play host to Babson and Plymouth State before taking on a pair of regionally ranked teams from 2013 in UMass Boston and Bowdoin the next day. Endicott is a combined 13-13 against their day one opponents and is a respectable 9-11 against the two traditional powerhouses of UMass Boston and Bowdoin. In 2013, the Gulls posted a 3-1 record against the four teams, with the lone setback coming to Bowdoin, who finished ranked #5 in New England. UMass Boston, who got hot at the end of the year, finished ranked #12 in the region but won the NCAA New England Regional and advanced to the NCAA DIII National Quarterfinals.
A Tuesday, September 9th match at Emerson for the teams' first meeting since 2006 puts the Gulls back on the road before they come back to the friendly confines of the MacDonald Gymnasium to host the first day of the MIT Invitational on the 12th. The Gulls then travel to MIT to complete the tournament on the 13th, with all opponents still to be determined.
The Gulls then hit the road for two dates of competition before returning for a stretch of three straight home matches. Endicott travels to Simmons on Wednesday the 17th before heading to Connecticut on the 20th to take on host Trinity and Williams in a tri-match. The Blue and Green are 1-1 all-time against Trinity, with their win coming last season, and have yet to take down Williams, a team that finished ranked #3 in New England.
Endicott heads home to play host to Colby-Sawyer on Thursday the 25th, a team that used to be a bitter conference rival when they both played in the CCC. The two squads have faced off 27 times, with Endicott reigning victorious in 18 of them. The Chargers have taken home the last two meetings in four sets, but prior to that, it was Endicott that reeled off 10 straight victories in the series.
The Colby-Sawyer match will provide a great tuneup for Endicott's Homecoming match on Saturday, September 27th against Gordon, which also happens to be their CCC opener. The Gulls have flat out dominated their cross-town rivals, having won 14 of the last 15 meetings, and the last seven straight.
Tuesday the 30th sees the Judges of Brandeis come to Beverly to close out the month of September for the Gulls. Endicott was able to post a 3-0 sweep of Brandeis in 2013, only the team's third win over the Judges in program history.
The month of October kicks off in dramatic fashion on the 3rd as the Gulls will return to the Bristol, R.I. to take on bitter CCC foe Roger Williams and kickoff a six match road trip. The Gulls and Hawks split the 2013 series as Endicott won at home for their Homecoming match in a five set thriller before falling the CCC title match at RWU 3-0. RWU finished ranked #1 in New England and fell in the NCAA Regional Semifinal to UMass Boston.
Endicott heads to Boston on Tuesday the 7th to face a Wentworth squad that they are 17-0 against all-time. The Gulls will then take advantage of the holiday weekend to travel out to California to face some stiff competition. On Friday the 10th, the Gulls will play host UC La Verne and Virginia Wesleyan, two squads they have never faced, before traveling to Pomona, Calif. to take on host Pomona-Pitzer and Whittier. Pomona-Pitzer finished 2013 ranked #5 in the West.
The Gulls will then fly back east and play host to the Seahawks of Salve Regina on the 15th, a CCC opponent that they are 15-2 against all-time. The Wednesday night match should be tightly contested as the two programs split the 2013 series with each winning on the opponents' home court.
A Saturday tri-match at Tufts with Amherst on the 18th pits Endicott against two teams that finished in the top 10 in New England in 2013 as Tufts finished 10th and Amherst finished 7th.
A Wednesday match on the 22nd at Eastern Nazarene will be the last regular season road match for Endicott who then returns home to close out the season with four home contests. The Gulls first play host to Curry and Salem State in a tri-match on the 25th before closing the season with back-to-back CCC playoff teams from 2013 in the University of New England and Western New England. The Gulls were able to take down the Nor'Easters 3-0 last year and will play host to UNE on Tuesday the 28th.
The Gulls then close the season with a Saturday match against WNE on the 1st of November. Endicott fell twice to the Golden Bears last season, the second of which came in the ECAC DIII New England Semifinals.
The CCC Tournament then gets underway with the Quarterfinals being hosted by the higher seeds on Tuesday, November 4th. The Semifinals and Finals are then hosted also by the remaining highest seeds on Thursday the 6th and Saturday the 8th respectively.
