Nov. 1, 2007
BEVERLY, MA - The Endicott women's volleyball team defeated the fifth-seeded Roger Williams University Hawks, 3-1, on Thursday night to advance to The Commonwealth Coast Conference Finals. The Gulls will host second-seeded Colby-Sawyer College on Saturday afternoon in Beverly, Massachusetts.
Roger Williams got off to a rocky start in game one as the Hawks began the contest with a serve that sailed out of bounds and an offensive miscue to give the Gulls a quick 2-0 lead. Endicott used the early momentum to build a 9-4 advantage. Roger Williams responded by rattling off five straight points, evening the game at 9-all. Moments later, Endicott's Hayley Janelle (Madbury, NH/Oyster River) powered a kill home to put the Gulls up by four. EC closed out game one with a kill by Brittany Phillips (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln Sudbury), giving the Gulls the opening frame 30-23.
The Gulls continued flying in game two, building an early 4-1 lead. The Hawks were able to recover as the visitors capitalized on consecutive Endicott errors, pulling ahead 12-8. Roger Williams controlled the tempo through the teens, building a 20-13 advantage and forcing the Gulls to burn a timeout. EC rallied to take eight of the next 12 points, pulling within three at 24-21. The deficit would prove to be too steep for the Gulls, as they fell in game two, 30-24.
Endicott and Roger Williams exchanged points in the early stages of game three. With the score knotted at 9-all, the Gulls grabbed two straight points to pull ahead 11-9. Endicott held the two point advantage, 20-18, and doubled the lead on back-to-back points, going up 22-18. A strong serving run from Kirsten Bosworth (Centerville, MA/Barnstable) put the visitors right back in the game, as she notched five quick points to make the score 26-25. The Gulls were able to hold on as Steph Wiese (Higganum, CT/Haddam-Killingworth) nailed home a kill on the far side to give the Gulls a 30-26 win.
Endicott raced out to an 8-3 lead to begin the fourth game. The Gulls continued rolling, going ahead 12-5 to force a Roger Williams timeout. The Blue and Green took six of the next seven points, streaking ahead 18-6. From there, the Gulls cruised to the 30-16 game four victory.
Roger Williams was led by Amy Maurer's (Madbury, NH/Oyster River) 13 kills. Freshman Brittney Sullivan (Nashua, NH/Nashua) paced the Hawks with 21 digs while junior setter Kirsten Bosworth handed out 37 assists in the loss.
Steph Wiese had a well-rounded night for the Blue and Green as she turned in a 12 kill, 18 dig and two ace performance. Brittany Phillips and Hayley Janelle each finished the evening with 11 kills apiece while senior Meghan Hall (Santa Cruz, CA/Aptos) had 44 assists and 20 digs. Kim Marschner (Londonderry, NH/Londonderry) registered 15 digs in the win.
The Gulls return to action on Saturday as they will host Colby-Sawyer College in The Commonwealth Coast Conference Championships. Game time is slated for 1:00 p.m. in Beverly, Mass.
