Nov. 8, 2008
BEVERLY, Mass. - The Endicott College Gulls were able to beat Colby-Sawyer in three straight sets to win the TCCC Conference Championship on Saturday on the campus of Endicott College. The Gulls were led by junior Steph Wiese who had 11 kills. The Gulls have clinched their third consecutive TCCC Championship and move onto the NCAA's with a 24-14 overall record.
Endicott was able to take the first set by a score of 25-22. The Gulls and Chargers traded points for the first half of the set until Colby-Sawyer took a three point advantage, going up by a score of 15-18. The Gulls would respond quickly as they went on a 10-4 run, including a service ace by Brittany Phillips (Sudbury, Mass.), to close out the set and take the first game.
The Gulls were able to jump out quickly on the Chargers in the second set going up 5-2 before a Colby-Sawyer timeout. The stoppage of play helped Colby-Sawyer as they mounted a 14-8 run to take a 16-13 lead. Endicott would answer with its own 4-0 run prompting another Charger timeout. The two teams would trade points until junior Steph Wiese would get the final kill of the set off a pass from Ally Murphy (Gilford, N.H.) and end the second game at 25-23.
With a 2-0 lead, the Gulls looked to close out the match and take home the championship. The Chargers would not go quietly however as they came back from an early 13-8 deficit to knot the match at 18-18. The two teams would trade points again and Colby-Sawyer took their first lead of the game at 23-22, which required an Endicott timeout. The Gulls would bounce back and finally win the match on a Casey Ward (Monroe, Conn.) service ace to win the game 26-24, the set 3-0, and the TCCC Championship.
Endicott was led by Steph Wiese with her 11 kills and sophomore Ally Murphy with 20 assists. Brittany Nolan (Monroe, Conn.) led the Gulls with 16 digs while Amy Grigg (Vernon, Conn.) led the team defensively with five blocks. The Chargers were led by freshman Nicole Duarte (Windham, N.H.) who had 12 kills on 18 attempts. Libero Taylor Forsberg (Moultonborough, N.H.) led the team with 20 digs and Genny Moore (Centerville, Mass.) led the Chargers with 37 assists.
The Gulls have now clinched an automatic bid for the NCAA tournament with the conference championship and will look to play in the upcoming regional bracket to be held at Tufts University on Thursday. Both seed and time of game will be determined on Monday morning at 9 a.m. The Chargers hope to gain an at-large bid into the tournament after finishing the season at 23-12 overall.
