Oct. 19, 2007
BEVERLY, MA - The Endicott College women's volleyball team pieced together a three games to one win over Division II Stonehill College on Friday evening in Beverly, Massachusetts.
Endicott and Stonehill exchanged points in the early stages of game one, with the Skyhawks holding a slight advantage, 9-8. The two teams battled to even ties throughout the early teens, as neither team was able to build separation from the other. Brittany Nolan (Monroe, CT/Masuk) gave the Gulls their biggest lead of the game as she went on a serving run to give the home team an, 18-16, advantage. Endicott continued applying pressure and a Steph Wiese (Higganum, CT/Haddam-Killingworth) kill gave the Gulls a 24-18 lead. The Skyhawks refused to go quietly, marching back into the contest by taking six of the next nine points to pull within three. Following an Endicott timeout, the Gulls buckled down to rebound and take game one, 30-25.
The back-and-forth affair continued into the beginning of game two, as Endicott and Stonehill traded points to a 7-7 tie. Behind the serving of Meghan Hall (Santa Cruz, CA/Aptos), the Gulls slowly built a 12-9 advantage. Brittany Phillips (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln Sudbury) notched a huge block at the Endicott net to further the home team's lead to 15-11. The Gulls took a six point lead on a strong kill on the far-side by Steph Wiese, putting the Blue and Green up, 23-17. From there, Endicott was able to cruise to a decisive, 30-22, game two win.
Stonehill showed resiliency in game three, jumping out to a 9-2 lead. Following an Endicott timeout, the Skyhawks battled to stay ahead. Andrea Wirth (Mesa, AZ/St. Mary's) touched in a nifty drop shot, keeping the visitors in front, 15-10. Stonehill's Katherine Masson (Acushnet, MA/New Bedford) gave the Skyhawks a seven point led as she earned a powerful kill upfront. Laura Noonan (Hampstead, NH/Bishop Guertin) closed out the Gulls in game three with a nice kill, giving Stonehill the 30-24 victory.
Stonehill continued rolling in game four, taking the first five points. Not to be outdone, Endicott responded with five-straight scores of its own to even the game at 5-all. The two teams went back-and-forth, with Endicott holding a narrow 16-15 lead. The Gulls blew it open as the Blue and Green capitalized on several Skyhawk miscues, increasing their lead to six. In the end, Endicott was simply too strong and took the game and the match, 30-19.
The Skyhawks were led by Katherine Masson's 17 kills. Freshman Laura Noonan also played well upfront for the visitors, chipping in 10 kills in the losing effort. Michelle Jacques (Medfield, MA/Medfield) paced the Stonehill defense with 19 digs while classmate Andrea Wirth dished out 38 assists.
Endicott was led once again by the strong play of Steph Wiese as the sophomore had 14 kills, 19 digs and three aces. Hayley Janelle (Madbury, NH/Oyster River) and Amy Grigg (Vernon, CT/Rockville) each had 10 kills in the win. Grigg also finished the night with four blocks, while Brittany Nolan had 22 digs. Meghan Hall handed out 43 assists and also became the all-time program leader in games played (458), passing Susan Teta (Charlestown, RI) and Killeen Ross (Ballston Lake, NY). Hall is now tied with Ross in matches played with 137.
With the win, Endicott reaches 20 victories for the fourth consecutive season. The Gulls have an overall record of 20-10 and a 6-1 mark in The Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Blue and Green return to action on Wednesday evening when they host Colby-Sawyer College in a game with playoff implications. The Gulls and the Chargers square-off at 7:00 PM.
