Disapointment at the 'Doon; #1 Women's Volleyball upset in GNAC Finals

(Nashua, N.H.) The Johnson and Wales University Women's Volleyball team earned their sixth Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship this afternoon as they upset the number one seed, and host, Rivier University in five sets inside the Muldoon Gymnasium. This was the sixth time since 2002 that Rivier and JWU have met in the Championship with each program taking home three conference titles.

The epic five set contest saw the Raiders claim the first set 25-19 before the Wildcats stole matches two and three by scores of 25-21 and 25-19. With their backs against the wall, Rivier forced a decisive fifth set with an impressive 25-19 fourth set before eventually being denied their third championship in a row with a 15-10 fifth set loss to JWU.

The Raiders (28-7 overall) saw three student-athletes reach the double-digit kill plateau with junior Lauren Silverman (Chelmsford, Mass.) leading the way with 13. She also totaled five blocks along for Rivier and classmate Dana Mott (Medway, Mass.) hammered down 12 kills. Senior Jackie Pisecco (Chelmsford, Mass.) recorded 11 kills with junior Molly McCormack (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) registering eight kills and a team high, 18 digs in the loss. Senior Emily O'Reilly (San Francisco, Calif.) dished out 41 assists and senior Lyndsey Sweeney (Coventry, R.I.) finished with 15 digs.

Johnson and Wales (23-7 overall) was powered by the freshman duo of Nastasia Kapustin (West Nyack, N.Y.) and Emily Kalmink (Byron Center, Mich.). Kaputsin laced 14 kills and made six total blocks with Kalmink knocked down 12 kills and had an outstanding defensive afternoon with 14 digs and eight total blocks along the net. Senior Kellen Tensen (New Canaan, Conn.) had 31 helpers in the five set match while classmates Paula Cadavid (Pawtucket, R.I.) and Marissa Bunnewith (Millbury, Mass.) collected 15 and 12 digs, respectively, to lead the defensive effort.

Kalmink was chosen as the 2015 All-Tournament Most Valuable Player. Both Kaputsin and Tensen were selected to the All-Tournament team along with Rivier's O'Reilly and Pisecco. Emmanuel's Sarah Schemerhorn and Saint Joseph's (Me.) Felicia Wachowiak were also named to the All-Tournament squad.

With the Championship victory, the Wildcats will advance to the NCAA Tournament as an automatic qualifier. The Raiders, who entered the match as 12th ranked team in NCAA Division III New England will wait to see if they can obtain an at-large bid to the dance.