2015 Endicott Men's Volleyball Schedule
BEVERLY, Mass.- With just over three months to go before the start of their 2015 season, the Endicott men's volleyball team has released their schedule which consists of 22 dates of competition including 10 non-conference dates and the full slate of 12 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) matches. The Gulls will look to use a difficult non-conference schedule to ready themselves for a deep NECC tournament run with their sights ultimately set on their third consecutive NECC title and with it, a berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Coming off of a 19-13 (11-1 NECC) season that ended with their second NECC title, first NCAA Tournament win and an NCAA Quarterfinal appearance, the Gulls graduated seven seniors from last year's roster including three all-conference honorees but return a roster that has gained experience throughout the last few seasons and is ready for the challenge.
The 2015 season tips off with a trip to Union, N.J. on January 16th and 17th to compete in the 2015 Kean Invitational. Opening the season and the Invitational is a Friday matchup against Brooklyn and a pair of matches on Saturday against a couple of top 10 teams from 2014 in Elmira and Kean who finished ranked 10th and 9th respectively in the final AVCA Coaches Poll.
Endicott takes to the road on the 21st to travel to Wentworth before hosting their first home match of the year on the 27th as the Gulls welcome the Engineers of MIT. The match against MIT will be a rematch of last year's NCAA DIII Tournament opening round match in which Endicott swept MIT to advance to the Championship site.
The Gulls then return to the road for their next three dates as they first travel to Nashua, N.H. to compete in the annual Live Free or Die Invitational hosted by Daniel Webster and Rivier on January 31st and February 1st. Endicott will play a trio of GNAC opponents in Johnson & Wales (R.I.) on Saturday at Daniel Webster and Lasell and Rivier at Rivier on Sunday. Rivier finished last season ranked #5 in the AVCA poll and ended with an NCAA quarterfinal loss to Carthage in five sets.
Kicking off their 2015 NECC regular season schedule is a rematch of last season's NECC Semifinal match as Endicott travels to Regis College on the 10th of February. The Regis match is the first of seven straight NECC matches as the Gulls then play host to three straight conference opponents in Elms, Newbury and Lesley on the 12th, 18th and 20th. Endicott then travels to Elms on the 28th before returning home to host Southern Vermont on the 3rd of March. The final conference match of the streak is an away contest against Daniel Webster in a rematch of last year's NECC Championship on Saturday, the 7th.
The Gulls then have a quick turnaround as they travel to Lasell on Sunday for a tri-match with Lasell and Dominican (Ill.) before hosting Regis and Vassar on Tuesday and Friday of that week. A Saturday match at Newbury is the final action for just over a week as the team will take a hiatus for Spring Break from the 14th to the 21st.
Five dates remain on the regular season schedule after the break as Endicott travels to Lesley and Southern Vermont on Wednesday and Thursday the 25th and 26th before returning home to host Daniel Webster for the team's final regular season home match on the 28th. The Gulls wrap up their regular season schedule with four matches at the 2015 MIT Scramble on the 3rd and 4th of April.
With the NECC Semifinals and Finals set for the 10th and 11th to be hosted by the highest seed, Endicott is hoping to qualify for the championship again and make a bid for their third NECC title.
