Endicott Comes Close in 0-3 Loss
March 15, 2004
Hope International men's volleyball team defeated the NCAA Division III's No. 15-ranked Endicott, 3-0 (30-20, 35-33, 30-26), on Monday night inside Darling Pavilion (Fullerton, CA).
Sophomore Dante Jones (Inglewood, Calif.) led all players with a match and season-high 22 kills. Jones, who currently leads the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in kills per game, registered 20-or-more kills for just the second time this season.
The Royals took care of Endicott without much trouble in Game \#1, but had to go toe-to-toe in Game \#2, as either team could have walked away with the win, but the Royals came back and used a steady serving game to take the game and go into the final game with a little bit of a cushion. In the final game, the Royals came back from 2 points down (10-8) and outscored the Gulls, 22-16, to take the match in 3 games.
Jeremy Fontaine led Endicott with 20 kills, while Eddie Marchand and Mike Coflesky added 8 and 7 kills respectively. Pablo Baez recorded 41 assists in the 3-game loss.
With the win, the Royals improve to 2-7 overall, while Endicott falls to 16-11 overall. Endicott returns to action Saturday, March 20 at 7:00 PM against University of New Haven (CT). Story courtesy of HIU Sports Information.