MVB: Four Selected to All-Conference, Kolek tabbed Coach of the Year
(Winthrop, Mass.) The Great Northeast Athletic Conference unveiled their 2016 All-Conference teams this morning for Men's Volleyball and several Rivier student-athletes were selected along with Head Coach Craig Kolek being selected as the GNAC Coach of the Year.
Rivier University head coach Craig Kolek was voted by the GNAC Coach of the Year by his peers after guiding the Raiders to a 22-11 overall mark and an appearance in the conference title match, where his Raiders fell in five sets to Wentworth Institute of Technology this past weekend. It marks the third GNAC Coach of the Year honor for Kolek, who has also received the GNAC Women's Volleyball Coach of the Year honor three times.
Junior Tyler Blank (Rochester, N.Y.) was tabbed a First Team selection as he eclipsed the 3,000 career assist mark this past season. He became just the fourth member in Rivier history to reach 3K assists and finished the 2016 season with 1,120 assists in 99 sets played – 11.31 assists per set average. Blank directed the Raider offense to a .286 hitting percentage while adding in 19 kills of his own throughout the season. Blank was a three time honoree for GNAC Offensive Player of the Week and was also named the AVCA/Impact Division III National Player of the Week. This is the third consecutive year that Blank has been selected as an All-Conference recipient. He was a First Team member as well as the Rookie of the Year in 2015 and was placed on the All-Conference Second Team a season ago.
Sophomore Grant Andler (Chicago, Ill.) joins Blank on the GNAC First Team after having a breakout season as the team's right side/opposite hitter. The 6-6 second year student-athlete hammered down 338 kills and totaled more than 40 blocks. He was the team leader with 30 service aces while collecting 138 digs over his 99 sets played.
The Raiders also had a pair of selections to the All-Conference Third Team. Junior Ian Wolski (Westfield, Mass.) and sophomore Matt Heckler (Simi Valley, Calif.) each were selected as they had tremendous seasons in the blue and white. This is the first time that either one was named to the All-Conference team in their respective careers.
Wolski busted out onto the scene this season as he appeared in 90 sets played. The third year outside hitter averaged 2.96 kills per set as he was second on the team (behind Andler) in kills with 266. Wolski also was twice tabbed GNAC Offensive Player of the Week and chipped in defensively with 59 digs and 29 total blocks.
Heckler recorded the highest hitting percentage among team qualifiers as he registered a .355 hitting percentage on the season. The second year middle hitter amassed 221 kills and just 68 errors over 431 attempts over his 110 sets played. He also dominated along the net with a team high 74 total blocks, including 17 block solos – also a team high. He was awarded the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, just once on January 25th, and contributed 52 digs.
For more information on the GNAC All-Conference teams, please visit www.thegnac.com.
