Nov. 7, 2006
BEVERLY, MA - The Endicott College women's volleyball team capped off their perfect 9-0 regular season by running the table in the Commonwealth Coast Conference tournament, eventually being crowned CCC Champions last weekend.
The Gulls entered the conference playoffs as the league's top seeded team, and EC would live up to the billing. The squad began by defeating the eight seed Wentworth, 3-0. In the semifinals, Endicott found their way past the fourth seeded University of New England Nor'easters 3-1. Endicott, which had earned home court advantage throughout the tournament, downed the Hawks of Roger Williams in straight games, capturing the CCC Championship for the second time in the past three years.
With the conference championship in hand, Endicott has earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. The Gulls will face Eastern Connecticut State University at 1:00pm on Thursday at MIT in Cambridge, MA. Endicott and ECSU met once earlier this season, with the Warriors coming away with a decisive 3-0 win.
Endicott, led by Commonwealth Coast Conference Player of the Year Meghan Hall (Santa Cruz, CA/Aptos), comes into the NCAA Tournament having won eight of their last nine matches and 23 of their last 27. The Gulls have been receiving strong play from CCC senior scholar athlete and first team all-CCC Sara Moore (Guilford, CT/Guilford), and second team all-conference players Hayley Janelle (Madbury, NH/Oyster River) and Steph Wiese (Higganum, CT/Haddam-Killingworth).
Eastern Connecticut was awarded an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III tournament as they won the Little East Conference by defeating Rhode Island College last weekend. Eastern is making their 15th NCAA tournament appearance in women's volleyball, while Endicott is making their second.
The Eastern Connecticut State University-Endicott winner will face the victor of Mount Ida-Coast Guard at 4:30pm on Friday in the regional semifinal, with the other semifinal contest to follow at 7:00pm. The regional final is scheduled for 7:00pm Saturday evening.
Each regional champion will advance to Salem, VA, for the NCAA quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals on November 16-18th, where a 2006 National Champion will be crowned.
