Wentworth Men's Volleyball Earns NCAA Division III Tournament First-Round Bye
On the heels of winning its second straight GNAC Championship, WIT has earned its second straight automatic qualifier berth to the NCAA Tournament.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Courtesy of Wentworth Athletics Communications
LINKS: NCAA Bracket | NCAA Release
BOSTON, Mass. – On the heels of winning its second straight Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship, the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team has earned its second straight berth in the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Tournament. The Leopards (27-6) have received a bye into the national quarterfinals and will play either Juniata (21-10) or NYU (18-9) on Friday, April 28, at a time to be determined. The quarterfinal, semifinal, and national championship matches will be played at Blake Arena on the campus of Springfield College.
Winners of a program record-tying 10 matches in a row, Wentworth tied the single season for victories with a 3-2 win over Lasell in Saturday's GNAC championship. Both Juniata and NYU also punched their tickets to the NCAA Tournament by winning their respective conference championships. Juniata won its third Continental Volleyball Conference Championship as the Eagles rallied to defeat Eastern Mennonite, 3-2, while NYU won its first-ever United Volleyball Conference Championship as the Violets defeated defending national champion New Paltz, 3-2.
In the 12-team tournament field, eight of the teams qualified by winning their respective conference championships. In addition to Wentworth winning the GNAC championship, Juniata winning the CVC championship, and NYU capturing the UVC championship, Hunter (27-6) won the City University of New York Athletic Conference championship, Dominican (Ill.) (26-2) won the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League title, Penn State-Altoona (26-6) won the North Eastern Athletic Conference crown, Endicott (21-10) won the New England Collegiate Conference championship, and Kean (26-8) won the Skyline Conference title. The field was rounded out with four teams selected at-large: New Paltz (24-8), Springfield (26-2), Stevens Institute of Technology (29-5), and Vassar (26-7).
Further information regarding match times and ticket prices will follow next week once the final eight has been solidified.