Aug. 21, 2006
BEVERLY, MA - The Endicott College women's volleyball team finished 23-15 and made its second consecutive postseason tournament appearance in 2005. Under seventh-year head coach Tim Byram, the Gulls qualified for the ECAC Tournament for the first time in school history after finishing second in the CCC with a conference mark of 8-1.
Endicott made its first postseason appearance in 2004, advancing to the NCAA Tournament at Williams College after winning the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament with a close five-game victory over Colby-Sawyer College. The Gulls fell just shy of repeating as CCC champs in 2005, this time losing to Colby-Sawyer in the championship match.
After a tough season which featured play against New England's best Division III regular season tournaments - the Hall of Fame Classic in Holyoke, the MIT Invitational and the Judges Classic - the Gulls' overall record earned them a spot in the ECAC's as the No. 5 seed. Despite recording a lower winning percentage than that of the 2004 squad (29-7), Byram and the Gulls enjoyed another record-breaking campaign. Endicott posted impressive numbers and broke six records while setting the foundation for another championship in 2006.
Outside hitter Killeen Ross '06 (Ballston Lake, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) became the first EC player to reach 1,000-kill plateau. Ross's 1,027 kills eclipsed the previous record of 961 set by Susan Teta in 2004. Ross also holds the career lead in digs with 1690. That record had been held by Katie Lorinovich `05.
Ross competed in the New England Women's Volleyball Association (NEWVA) Senior Classic. The outside hitter was one of 35 seniors to be selected in the region and only the fifth Endicott player to receive this honor.
Brittany Nolan '09 (Monroe, CT/Masuk) was also a trend-setter, eclipsing Lorinovich's school record for digs in a season (547 digs in 117 games). In her just her freshman season, Nolan amassed 580 digs in 119 games.
Setter Meghan Hall '08 (Santa Cruz, CA/Aptos) owns the school record for career assists in only her second season. Hall has 2387 assists in 236 games, which was held by Krysten Silva '04, who had 2105. Hall topped her own mark of assists in a season, collecting 1246 through 118 games this season, which beat her old mark of 1141 in 2004.
Middle hitter Sara Moore '07 (Guilford, CT/Guilford) broke her own school records for kills and points in a season. Her old records for kills (357) and points (423.5) fell in 2005 as she has recorded 392 kills and 472.0 points in 2005.
In keeping with coach Byram's philosophy to play against the best teams around the country, the 2006 schedule is as challenging as ever. The season begins with a trip to Colorado College and also features and appearance in the powerful Springfield Invitational.
Endicott returns a host of talent for the 2006 campaign including Casey Ward '09 (Monroe, CT/Masuk); Katelyn Smith '07 (Ballston Lake, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake); Kim Marschner '08 (Londonderry, NH/Londonderry); Hayley Janelle '09 (Madbury, NH/Oyster River); Beth Dow '08 (Pocasset, MA/Bourne); and Sarah Richardson '09 (Laconia, NH/Laconia).
Byram will be looking for big things out of incoming freshmen Stephanie Wiese '10 (Higganum, CT); Lauren Lundstrom '10 (Edina, MN); Emily Martel '10 (Hudson, MA); and Lauren Mailhot '10 (Ledyard, CT).
