JWU Wins Fourth Straight GNAC Women's Volleyball Crown
The No. 2 nationally-ranked Wildcats blanked Rivier, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon in the 2018 GNAC Championship contest.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – For the fourth year in a row, the GNAC women's volleyball trophy will reside at Johnson & Wales University. The second-ranked Wildcats rolled to the championship with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-18) decision over Rivier on Saturday.
Records:
Rivier: 27-7
#2 Johnson & Wales: 31-1
Statistical Leaders:
Brylee Frank (JWU): 32 assists, 13 digs, 5 kills
Katie Leidhold (JWU): 10 kills, 6 digs
Elyssa Nicolas (JWU): 17 digs
Of Note:
The title gives the Wildcats the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is slated for 12:30 p.m. Monday on NCAA.com
The Wildcats won their 58th-straight home match, the fifth-longest in Division III history. JWU is one win back of Central and Eastern for the third-longest streak in NCAA history.
They also extended the longest active winning streak in the nation to 31 matches. JWU has won 82-consecutive sets against GNAC opponents.
Johnson & Wales started the match on a 6-1 run and cruised to the first set. Rivier got within 10-9 in the second set before JWU went on a 9-5 run to take the second stanza.
Set three was 8-7 in JWU's favor, but the Raiders committed a pair of errors then Hannah Dolan combined with Kelly Delaney for a block then picked up a kill to give the Wildcats the margin they needed to finish off the match.
JWU had a 50-40 advantage in digs with libero Elyssa Nicolas providing a match-high 17.
Leading all players with a match-high 10 kills was Katie Leidhold to go along with six digs. Setter Brylee Frank had a 32-assist, 13-dig double-double.
Rivier was paced by Courtney Collins with eight kills. Setter Hayley Macken just missed a double-double with 19 assists and nine digs.
2018 GNAC All-Tournament Team
Maddie Bromley, Colby-Sawyer
Maria Coniglio, Johnson & Wales (MVP)
Kate Walker, Johnson & Wales
Brylee Frank, Johnson & Wales
Hayley Macken, Rivier
Courtney Collins, Rivier
Chidera Nwankwo, Suffolk
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
– #TheGNAC –
2018 GNAC Women's Volleyball Championship
