Wentworth, Rivier in GNAC Men’s Volleyball Championship

GNAC MEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

WINTHROP, Mass. – No. 1 seed Wentworth and No. 3 seed Rivier will faceoff in the 2024 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Volleyball Championship on Saturday, April 13 after both squads picked up victories in the semifinal round on Thursday (April 11) night. Wentworth will host the title match at noon.

The top-seeded Leopards picked up a 3-0 sweep over No. 4 seed Emmanuel, while the Raiders stole a win on the road, defeating No. 2 seed Lasell, 3-1.

Wentworth, the two-time defending champion, is making its seventh straight GNAC Championship appearance, a streak that dates back to 2016 with no season being held in 2020 or 2021.

On the other side, Rivier makes its first GNAC Finals appearance since 2019. They're hoping for similar results as they knocked off the Leopards to claim the title that year.

During the regular season, the two teams met twice with WIT coming out on top on both occasions. During their first meeting on Feb. 23, the Raiders took the match to four sets, while the most recent meeting on April 6 saw the Leopards coming away with a 3-0 sweep.

The winner of Saturday's Championship match will be named the 2024 GNAC Champion and earn the league's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship.

#1 Wentworth 3, #4 Emmanuel 0

Recap courtesy of the Wentworth Athletic Communications Department.

BOSTON – In the GNAC semifinals Thursday night, the top-seeded Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team cruised past the fourth-seeded Emmanuel Saints in straight sets, led by a match-high 14 kills by senior Jacob LaBouliere.

The triumph gives the Black & Gold their seventh straight berth in the GNAC championship with the Leopards seeking their third straight championship win.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• A kill by LaBouliere  gave the Leopards a 5-3 advantage in the first set before a finish by sophomore Nicolai Bell pushed the lead to 9-7. A kill by junior Sam Etter continued the lead to 16-13 before a finish by graduate student Brandon Dunz marked a 22-17 lead. A finish by senior Jacob Waga clinched a 25-18 set win.
• The Saints climbed to an 8-4 lead in the second set before continuing it to 10-6. The Leopards then rattled off seven of the next nine points, taking a 13-12 edge, before kills by Dunz and LaBouliere helped push the lead to 21-14. A kill by LaBouliere capped a 25-17 set win.
• A kill by Waga marked a 6-4 for lead for Wentworth before a kill by Bell continued the advantage to 10-5. A slew of kills continued the advantage to 16-9. Two kills by LaBouliere and another by Bell helped extend the lead to a 21-14 score before a kill by Etter helped the Black & Gold to a 25-16 set win.

#3 Rivier 3, #2 Lasell 1

Recap courtesy of the Rivier Communications Department.

NEWTON, Mass. – The Rivier men's volleyball team powered past No. 19 Lasell in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Semifinals in four sets to earn its first ranked win of the season and advance to Saturday's title match for the first time since 2019.

The third-seeded Raiders won by set scores of 25-19, 25-19, 21-25, 25-20 and improved to 19-13 while the second-seeded Lasers fell to 17-12 and will await Monday's NCAA Division III Selection Show to learn their fate.

Rivier got out to a 14-11 lead in the first set, causing Lasell to call a timeout to regroup. From there, the Raiders grew their lead to four points on a kill from Ryan Peace making it 22-18, forcing the Lasers to burn their last timeout of the set. After a side-out kill by Theo Zaharewicz, two straight kills from Neil Rea and a bad set on the other side of the net gave Rivier a 1-0 lead. The visitors were hot offensively in the first, notching 15 kills at a team .464 hitting percentage. Both Rea and Peace went a perfect 4-for-4 with their attacks.

Lasell quickly called a timeout down five early in the second set after giving up points on five attack errors and a bad set. After a Rivier service error made it a one-point game, the Raiders rallied to record three of the next four points to take a 17-12 advantage into a Lasers timeout. Riv's lead would not fall below three for the remainder of the frame to improve their match lead to two sets. The Raiders limited Lasell to a .000 clip in the frame, while their offense hit .435 thanks to six kills from Sokunbuth Ly.

Lasell came out of the second intermission with energy as its season was on the line. Tied at 10-all, Rivier put together a 6-2 run with kills coming from Ly, Matthew McCloskey, and Chris Lezon over that stretch, leading to a Lasers timeout. Rivier would have to burn one of its timeouts soon thereafter as Lasell retied the match on four straight points out of the breather. Lasell battled to take the lead for good after an Aidan Norris kill made it 20-18, making it 2-1 in favor of the guests.

In the fourth set, Isaac Borges used a roll shot to knock the ball over the block and onto the floor to make it 11-7 in favor of Riv. Lasell rallied to lead 16-14 and force Riv into a timeout. A Lasell service error allowed for a quick side-out before Ly registered a nifty kill with his left hand and Rea recorded a solo block to give the Raiders the lead back, 17-16. At match point, Lezon hammered an unreturnable serve over the net for an ace, pushing the Raiders to the title match. Ly finished the set with six kills on nine errorless swings to hit .667.

Rea concluded his outing with 41 assists, seven kills at a .1000 clip, one ace, and eight digs. Nine kills for Peace and eight kills for Lezon, as well as two solo blocks from each of them helped Rivier secure a huge presence in the middle of the court. Peter White and Ly finished with nine digs each as Ly hit .471 while registering a team-best 18 kills.

2024 GNAC Men's Volleyball Tournament Schedule

Quarterfinals – Tuesday, April 9

(Hosted by higher seeds)

#3 Rivier def. #6 Emerson, 3-0 | BOX
#4 Emmanuel def. #5 Regis, 3-0 | BOX

Semifinals – Thursday, April 11
(Hosted by higher seeds)

#1 Wentworth def. #4 Emmanuel, 3-0 | BOX
#3 Rivier def. #2 Lasell, 3-1 | BOX

Championship – Saturday, April 13

#3 Rivier at #1 Wentworth, Noon

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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