#1 JWU, #2 Simmons Earn GNAC Women's Volleyball Semifinal Sweeps on Thursday
The No. 10 nationally-ranked Wildcats will aim for their third straight GNAC Championship on Saturday (1PM), while Simmons makes its first-ever appearance in the conference title game.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Game 5: #1 JWU 3, #4 Lasell 0
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Johnson & Wales University women's volleyball team completed the final hurdle standing in the way of its fourth-straight trip to the GNAC Championship match. The 10th-ranked Wildcats downed Lasell, 3-0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-10), on Thursday.
Records:
Lasell: 15-20
Johnson & Wales: 31-0
Statistical Leaders:
Maria Coniglio: 16 kills, 7 digs
Elyssa Nicolas: 14 digs
Brylee Frank: 33 assists
Katie Leidhold: 7 kills, 5 aces, 6 digs
Of Note
Johnson & Wales improved the tenth-best home court winning streak in NCAA history to 38 matches. JWU is two shy of tying Bowdoin for the number nine spot. The Wildcats are 64-1 over the last two seasons.
Lasell hung with the Wildcats in the first set, pulling within three (11-8), but the Wildcats put the set out of reach with a 14-3 run. The JWU margin was two, 11-9, in the second set off a Michele Canestro kill. However, JWU took control thanks to a 14-4 stretch.
Johnson & Wales had it going in all phases of the game, hitting .461 while limiting the Lasers to .025. JWU had a 41-26 advantage in digs - libero Elyssa Nicolas (Brisbane, Calif.) produced a match-high 14 - to go along with 10 aces, 50 percent of which came from Katie Leidhold (Acushnet, Mass.).
Leading all players was Maria Coniglio (Old Bethpage, NY) with 16 kills as well as seven digs. Kate Walker (Oakland, Calif.) chipped in nine kills and Leidhold had seven. Setter Brylee Frank (Palm City, Fla.) handed out 33 assists.
Mickayla Shelburn and Meredith Eagan topped Lasell with five kills each. Setter Taylor Tiezzi produced 14 assists and eight digs.
Next Game:
Johnson & Wales will host Simmons in the GNAC championship game on Saturday at 1 p.m. JWU defeated the Sharks, 3-0, on September 26.
Courtesy of JWU Athletics Communications
#2 Simmons 3, #3 Rivier 0
BOSTON, Mass. – First year Jarene Harberts (Naples, Fla.) smashed a match-high 15 kills to lead the second-seeded Simmons College women's volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-20) victory over visiting number three seed Rivier University this evening in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship Tournament Semifinals at Moore Gymnasium in Boston, Mass. The Sharks win their school-record 12th straight match to improve to 21-9 on the year to set a school mark for wins in a season. The Raiders fall to 20-12.
Simmons advances to the GNAC Championship match for the first time in school history and will travel to Providence, R.I. on Saturday, November 4 at 1:00 p.m. to take on top-seeded Johnson & Wales University, which downed fourth-seeded Lasell College, 3-0.
The Sharks hit .238 for the match and overcame 18 service errors, while Rivier hit .069.
Harberts hit .257 for the night and put down the winning kill in each of the three sets. She also added six digs and an ace for Simmons. Sophomore outside hitter Morgan Weeg (Goodyear, Ariz.) swung for 12 kills on a .250 hitting mark to go with six digs, a block assist and four assists, while classmate Kenna McCarthy (Shelter Island, N.Y.) set for a match-high 23 assists in addition to seven digs and a trio of aces. Senior right side hitter Amber Peterson (Las Vegas, Nev.) contributed with seven kills, two digs and an ace and first year libero Julia Fusco (Beverly, Mass.) picked up 12 digs and added two aces and five assists.
Sophomore middle hitter Sunny Foglia (Remsenburg, N.Y.) led the Raiders with five kills on a .250 hitting mark to go with a dig and five block assists, while first year middle hitter Emma Soucy (Dunbarton, N.H.) put down four kills on a match-high .500 hitting percentage in addition to a pair of block assists. Junior setter Hayley Macken (Clifton Park, N.Y.) set for 14 assists, got down for seven digs and found the floor for three kills, while senior libero Bethany Trevino (Westminster, Colo.) picked up 11 digs.
The Sharks hit .375 in the opening set, but Rivier got out to an early 7-5 lead. Simmons reeled off five straight points, including a pair of kills from Harberts to take a 10-7 lead. The Sharks later maintained a 16-12 margin, before going on an 8-2 run, paced by a pair of kills from Harberts to take a 24-14 advantage. The Raiders didn't lay down, scoring the next six points to close to within 24-20, but Harberts put down the final kill of the set to give the home team a 1-0 match lead.
Rivier scored four of the first five points to take a 4-1 lead to open the second set. The Sharks responded with a 7-1 burst, led by a pair of kills from Weeg, to take an 8-5 lead. The Raiders knotted the match at 8-8, thanks to a pair of kills from first year right side hitter Jillian Rabasco (Nashua, N.H.) and the teams played close for the next 16 points to remain tied at 16-16. Simmons scored five straight points as part of a 7-1 run to take a 23-17 cushion. Once again, Rivier didn't back down, scoring four of the next five points to cut the deficit to 24-21, before Harberts swung for the frame's final kill for a 2-0 match lead for the Sharks.
Simmons took an early 8-5 lead in the third set, before a 7-0 stretch gave the Raiders its largest lead of the night at 12-8. The Sharks answered with five consecutive points, including two kills from Weeg, to take a 13-12 edge. Rivier tallied the next two points for a 14-13 margin, but it was the visitors' last lead of the night as Simmons put together a 10-3 run, led by all three of McCarthy's aces and three kills from Harberts, to take a 23-17 lead. The Raiders stayed true to form with another late set push, scoring three straight points to close to within 23-20, but a kill from Peterson and the winning kill from Harberts sent the Sharks to their first title match.
Courtesy of Simmons Athletics Communications.
Tuesday, October 31 - Quarterfinals
Game 1: #1 JWU 3, #8 Mount Ida 0 | BOX
Game 2: #4 Lasell 3, #5 Regis (Mass.) 0 | BOX
Game 3: #3 Rivier 3, #6 Saint Joseph's Maine 0 | BOX
Game 4: #2 Simmons 3, #7 Suffolk 0 | BOX
Thursday, November 2 - Semifinals
Game 5: #1 JWU 3, #4 Lasell 0 | BOX
Game 6: #2 Simmons 3, #3 Rivier 0 | BOX
Saturday, November 4 - Final
Game 7: #2 Simmons at #1 JWU - 1:00 PM