Jan. 14, 2006
BEVERLY, MA - Endicott found itself in a deep hole in the fourth match, but the Gulls found a way to turn the momentum and walked away from MacDonald Gymnasium a 3-2 winner over Sacred Heart University in the season opening contest for both teams.
Endicott (1-0) rallied from a 24-22 hole in the fourth game behind the strong serving of Eric Hunter (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem). The Gulls eventually won game 4 30-27 and jumped out to a 5-0 fifth game lead before winning 15-9. The Pioneers won the first game 30-18 and the third game 30-25, while the Gulls grabbed game 2 30-17.
Freshman outside hitter Clay Ostrander (Wheaton, IL/Wheaton) led EC with 21 kills while senior captain Mike Coflesky (Royalston, MA/Athol) had 15 kills and four digs. Hunter finished with 42 assists and eight digs while junior middle hitter George Chapell (Haverhill, MA/Haverhill) tied the school record solo blocks with four. Chapell finished with eight total blocks and four kills. Junior Matt Keepin (Harwinton, CT/Lewis S. Mills) added nine kills while freshman Joe Douglass (Beverly, MA/St. John's Prep) added two aces and three kills.
The Gulls travel to Emmanuel (8) Tuesday night before hosting Wentworth Thursday evening at 7:00 PM.
