Men's Volleyball Falls in Straight Sets in GNAC Semifinals to No. 3 Wentworth

BOSTON - Seeking their first trip to the conference championship in 10 years, the Emmanuel Saints men's volleyball playoff run in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) has come to an end following a straight sets loss (25-18, 25-17, 25-16) to the No. 1 GNAC seed and No. 3 ranked team in Division III, the Wentworth Leopards, on Thursday night in the GNAC Semifinal Round at Tansey Gymnasium.

The one-loss Leopards improve to 29-1 and are seeking their third consecutive GNAC Championship Title. For the Saints, the loss ends their season at 17-10, but not before a return to the GNAC Semifinal Round for the first time since 2019.

In the opening set, a kill by senior Jacob LaBouliere (Pipersville, Pa.) gave the Leopards a 5-3 advantage in the first set before a finish by sophomore Nicolai Bell (Moraga, Calif.) pushed the lead to 9-7. A kill by junior Sam Etter (Massillon, Ohio) continued the lead to 16-13 before a finish by graduate student Brandon Dunz (Lake View, N.Y.) marked a 22-17 lead. A finish by senior Jacob Waga (East Northport, N.Y.) clinched a 25-18 set win.

In the second, the Saints jumped out to a four-point lead, 10-6, with the help of three kills by sophomore Michael Shelley (San Francisco, Calif.). The Leopards answered back to the tune of a 15-4 run, flipping the momentum in the set to take a 21-14 lead. LaBouiere and Dunz combined for eight of the Leopards 15 points in the run, as Wentworth coasted to a 25-17 set win.

In the final set, the Leopards used four-consecutive points early in the set to take a 10-5 edge. As the Saints and Leopards traded points through the middle of the set, the decisive points came as a 6-1 spurt from Wentworth, including five kills from four different Leopards, lifting the home sides edge to 18-10. Emmanuel could only get as close as six in the late stages as a kill for Etter set up match point and a Saints attack error finished off the third, 25-16.

LaBouliere finished with a match-best 14 kills to go with the match-high .560 attack percentage. Waga and Etter had seven and six kills, respectively, with Waga hitting .417 from the floor.

Shelley had a team-high 12 kills for the Saints to go along with one solo and one assisted block. Junior Jyles Amirault (Andover, Mass.) added seven kills with a .250 attack percentage.

The Leopards advance to the GNAC Championship Game on Saturday, April 13, where they will face the No. 3 GNAC seed, Rivier Raiders at Tansey Gymnasium.