Wentworth Seeks Three-Peat As GNAC Men’s Volleyball Preseason Favorite
WINTHROP, Mass. – Reigning Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men’s Volleyball Champion No. 3 Wentworth comes into the 2024 season seeking its third-straight conference title. The Leopards start their title defense as the preseason favorite based on the 2024 GNAC Men’s Volleyball Coaches’ Poll.
The Leopards secured 62 points, including six first place votes, in this year’s voting which was conducted by the league’s eight men’s volleyball head coaches last week.
Wentworth, which is ranked No. 3 nationally in the AVCA/NVA Division III men’s volleyball poll, went 15-1 in GNAC (27-8 overall) play last year and earned the No. 1 seed in the GNAC Championship Tournament. After defeating No. 5 seed Emerson in the Conference Semifinals, Wentworth its sixth-straight trip to the GNAC title match. The Leopards captured the conference crown, defeating No. 2 seed Lasell, 3-1. In the NCAA Tournament the GNAC Champions advanced to the national quarterfinals, defeating St. John Fisher in the First Round before falling to Stevens.
Ranking second in this year’s poll is Lasell, the GNAC Tournament runner-up for the past two seasons. The Lasers, which were the only team to deal the Wentworth a conference loss in 2023, earned 58 points and the last two remaining first place votes. Lasell is also ranked in the national poll sitting at a tie for 16th and is hoping to make that last leap back to the top of the conference.
Rivier and Emmanuel earned 48 and 39 points, respectively, to rank third and fourth in this year’s voting. Regis (29 points), Emerson (27), Elms (17), and Dean (8) made up the bottom half of the poll.
Regis is the first GNAC school in action this year as it opens the season on Thursday, Jan. 11 with a non-conference matchup. The remaining conference teams get underway the following week, including the first conference match of the season. Teams will complete a 14-game conference season with two matchups against every league opponent.
The top six teams at the end of the regular season earn berths into the 2024 GNAC Men’s Volleyball Championship Tournament. The postseason starts with a Quarterfinal Round featuring the bottom four tournament seeds on Tuesday, April 9 with those winners advancing to the GNAC Semifinals on Thursday, April 11. The winners of those matches will earn the right to compete for the 2024 GNAC Championship Saturday, April 13. The winner of the championship game will be named 2024 GNAC Men’s Volleyball Champion and earn the league’s automatic qualifier into the 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship.
2024 GNAC Men's Volleyball Preseason Poll
| 1. | Wentworth | 62 (6 First Place Votes) |
| 2. | Lasell | 58 (2) |
| 3. | Rivier | 48 |
| 4. | Emmanuel | 39 |
| 5. | Regis | 29 |
| 6. | Emerson | 27 |
| 7. | Elms | 17 |
| 8. | Dean | 8 |
ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHEAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 16 member institutions and over 4000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
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