Wentworth, Lasell To Meet Each Other In Saturday's GNAC Men's Volleyball Championship
WINTHROP, Mass. - The stage is set for Saturday's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Volleyball Championship as both nationally-ranked Wentworth (#12) and Lasell (#20) will meet at Tansey Gymnasium in Boston for a 12:00 PM serve as the top-seeded Leopards ended No. 4 seed Regis' season while the two-seed Lasers ended No. 3 Emmanuel's season as well.
The two will meet again in the GNAC Championship match for the fourth time in which Wentworth got the best of Lasell the first three previous matches with the latest match-up being in 2023. The Leopards will look to four-peat Saturday afternoon while the Lasers look to claim their first GNAC title and trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2015.
Recap courtesy of Wentworth Institute of Technology Athletic Communications
BOSTON, Mass. – In the Great Northeast Athletic ConferenceTournament's semifinal round Thursday night, the top-seeded and No. 12-ranked Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team sailed past the fourth-seeded Regis Pride in straight sets.
With the win, the Leopards (25-6) punch their ticket to the GNAC Championship, getting set to host their fourth straight title bout. The Pride see their season conclude with a 20-12 mark.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The two teams swapped scores in the opening set until the Pride grabbed a 7-5 lead. A finish by Alem Dubcak capped a 5-0 run for Wentworth, eventually earning themselves an 11-9 lead before a 7-1 run later in the frame pushed their advantage to 18-11. Kills by Andrew Ahn and Jacob Waga helped mark a 20-13 lead before finishes by Ahn and Nicolai Bell in the late going paced the Leopards to a 25-18 set win.
- After Regis set out to a 4-2 lead in the second set, a kill by Conner Foxwell rallied the Leopards back to later knot the score at six-all. From there, the two teams swapped scores until the Pride held a 12-11 edge. An 11-0 run for the Black & Gold followed, featuring two kills by Dubcak, to give the Leopards a 22-12 advantage. An ace by Benjamin Moughonultimately clinched a 25-15 set win.
- Two kills by Waga and another by Mason Andrade helped the Leopards to a 6-5 edge in the third frame before two kills by Dubcak and another by Foxwell helped carry the advantage to 13-8. Two putaways by Bell extended the lead to 17-10 before finishes by Ahn, Andrade, and Dubcak helped stretch the lead to 22-14. Back-to-back kills by Waga at a 23-15 score helped Wentworth claim a 25-15 set win.
SERIES NOTES:
- The Leopards bested the Pride each of the two times they met in the regular season and now lead the all-time series, 23-0.
NEXT UP:
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Recap Courtesy of Lasell University Athletic Communications
Newton, MA – Behind a powerful offensive showing and a dominant team effort at the net, the #2 seed Lasell University men's volleyball team swept #3 Emmanuel College in straight sets (25-17, 25-22, 25-18) in the GNAC Semifinals on Thursday afternoon at the Lasell Athletic Center.
With the victory, the Lasers (22-7, 12-2 GNAC) move on to the GNAC Championship match, while Emmanuel (19-11, 10-4 GNAC) sees its playoff run come to an end.
Lasell came out swinging in the first set, hitting .308 as a team and holding the Saints to just 9 kills. The Lasers stayed in rhythm throughout the match, with a match-high .423 hitting percentage in the third set to close the door.
Leading the charge was Theo Zaharewicz, who posted 11 kills on .345 hitting, along with 2 aces and 2 total blocks for a match-high 14.5 points. He was joined by Teddy Teraszkiewicz and Benjamin Walinjom, who each added 9 kills, combining for 21 total points.
Setter Trystan Maloney directed the offense with 32 assists, 3 service aces, and solid defensive play, adding 4 digs. Defensively, Lasell controlled the net with 17 total blocks, including 5 block assists from Jasper Schultz and 3 each from Teraszkiewicz, Walinjom, and Dexter Thomas.
Lasell hit .333 as a team, out-blocked Emmanuel 17-12, and out-dug the Saints 38-29. The Lasers also served up 7 aces, keeping Emmanuel on their heels for much of the match.
Up Next: The Lasers now advance to the GNAC Championship on Saturday, where they will face Wentworth with a title and NCAA Tournament berth on the line.
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 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
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