#2 Women's Volleyball falls in Championship to #1 JWU

(Providence, R.I.) A record breaking season came to a heart breaking end this afternoon as the Rivier University Women's Volleyball team fell to top seeded Johnson and Wales University, 3-1 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship game at the Wildcat Center in Providence, Rhode Island. It was a program best 31 win season for the Raiders as they finish at 31-4, their best record in program history. Johnson and Wales remains unbeaten at 32-0 and will represent the GNAC in the upcoming NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Wildcats won their seventh conference title which breaks the tie with Rivier as they now have the most Women's Volleyball Championships in GNAC History. This season, JWU has gone a remarkable 99-2 in sets played this season. The only program to beat them in two sets this season? That would be your Raiders (Lost at JWU, 3-1 back on September 21).

It's the seventh time JWU and Rivier have met for the conference crown. With today's victory, Johnson & Wales now has a 4-3 edge in those match-ups.

As you'd expect with a tight match, the two teams were nearly identical on the stat sheet. JWU had slim advantages in hitting percentage (.252-.250), digs (65-64), blocks (8-7) and aces (6-3).

The opening set was closely contested with 12 ties and four lead changes. Neither team had a lead larger than three points. A JWU error tied it at 25-25, but Kate Walker (Oakland, Calif.) came through with a kill then a Rivier miscue gave the Wildcats the first set.

JWU went on a 4-0 run to take a 14-12 lead midway through the second set, thanks to Maria Coniglio's (Old Bethpage, NY) service run and didn't look back the rest of the set. The margin grew to as many as 24-18 before the Wildcats put the set away.

Tough Rivier serving in the third set gave JWU fits as the Raiders jumped out to an 11-4 advantage on their way to winning the set, 25-21. Rivier is the only team to take a set off the Wildcats all season. JWU had its consecutive sets streak snapped at 66.

The Wildcats cut into Rivier's lead towards the end of the third set and used that momentum to win the fourth set and the championship. Elizabeth Hamilton (Canton, Mass.) staked JWU to a 4-0 lead then five-straight points, including two aces, off Gianna Esposito's (Larkspur, Calif.) serve pushed the margin to 18-11.

The Raiders got 78 percent of their offense from three players. Senior Dana Mott (Medway, Mass.) had a match-high 18 kills while classmates Lauren Silverman (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Molly McCormack (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) were next at 15 each. Sophomore Haley Macken (Clifton Park, N.Y.) notched 49 assists and junior libero Bethany Trevino (Westminster, Colo.) produced 17 digs. Junior Madison Soucy (Tolland, Conn.) also shined along the back line with 12 digs in the loss.

Setter Brylee Frank (Palm City, Fla.), who was named Tournament MVP, had the JWU offense humming. Five different players had eight or more kills, including Frank. She recorded 47 assists and 13 digs for her ninth double-double. Frank was joined on the all-tournament team by middle blockers Emily Kalmink (Byron Center, Mich.) and Walker. Kalmink had a team-high 15 kills and was in on five blocks. Walker was one kill behind at 14.

Four different players had 10 or more digs. Esposito notched a match-high 20 and Hamilton was next at 13.

2016 Great Northeast Athletic Conference All-Tournament Team

Brylee Frank (Johnson & Wales), Tournament MVP

Emily Kalmink (Johnson & Wales)

Kate Walker (Johnson & Wales)

Dana Mott (Rivier)

Lauren Silverman (Rivier)

Alex Itasaka (Simmons)

Amari King (Anna Maria)