No. 3 Wentworth Downs Men’s Volleyball in GNAC Championship

BOSTON, Mass. – The Rivier men's volleyball team had its season come to a close in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship as it fell to No. 3 Wentworth, the tournament's top seed, in straight sets on Saturday afternoon at Tansey Gymnasium.

The third-seeded Raiders finished their season with a 19-14 overall record. The Leopards are now 30-1 and receive the GNAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight season.

After trailing by 13-5 in the first set, the Raiders used a 7-1 run to make it a two-point game and force the Leopards into a timeout. Rivier would tie the set at 18-all on a kill by Neil Rea. Wentworth used kills from Sam Etter, Nicolai Bell, and a Riv attack error to regain a three-point lead and force Rivier into a timeout. The Raiders battled to within one as Sokunbuth Ly notched a kill to make it 22-21, causing Wentworth to take a timeout. Narrowly leading 23-22, the Leopards' Jacob Waga made it set point before an attack error on the other side of the net closed out the opening frame. Wentworth put together seven team blocks in the first set while hitting .310 as a team.

Wentworth turned it up a notch in the second set, jumping out to a 16-7 lead before cruising to a 25-15 triumph. The Leopards hit at a .345 clip while limiting the Raiders to a -.208 percentage.

Rivier battled in the third set as its season was on the line. After falling behind 12-6, an 8-4 Raiders rally cut their deficit to just two as Wentworth called a timeout to regroup. Riv would tie the set at 18-18 and 19-19 before back-to-back kills from Jacob LaBouliere put the Leopards on top for good. Wentworth's win was capped off with a kill from LaBouliere, who would later be named the tournament's most valuable player.

Rea had 20 assists while notching eight digs, two kills, and two block assists. Isaac Borges put together a team-high nine digs while recording five kills and a solo block. Ly finished with 10 kills and eight digs while helping on one block. Chris Lezon hit at a .429 clip, registering seven kills with a block assist to his credit. Racine Camara tacked on two kills at a .500 clip with a dig and a block assist. Peter White had six digs while posting a .968 reception percentage, successfully passing 30-of-31 serves.

Riv will graduate seven players in May and will look to regroup to return to the GNAC title match next season.