WINGARD NAMED GNAC OFFENSIVE POTY, GALLEGOS THIRD TEAM ALL-GNAC

WINTHROP, Mass. – Emmanuel College senior outside hitter Barrett Wingard has been named the 2016 GNAC Men's Volleyball Offensive Player of the Year, the conference office announced on Monday morning along with its annual All-Conference Teams. Wingard led the GNAC in kills (430) and kills per set (3.98) and ranked ninth with a .335 hitting percentage for the Saints.

Saints senior libero Kevin Gallegos also earned All-GNAC honors after being named Third Team All-GNAC.

Emerson College senior libero Jared Gross was named the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, as he led the conference in both digs (281) and digs per set (3.27).

Johnson & Wales freshman Cameron Ponce had a tremendous all-around season in his first year with the Wildcats en route to being selected as the 2016 GNAC Rookie of the Year. The setter averaged 6.60 assists, 1.49 kills, 0.69 blocks, 0.46 aces and 1.86 digs per set.

Wingard and Gross were First Team selections, while Ponce garnered a Second Team nod, as voted upon by the league's eight head coaches.

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.

GNAC champion and NCAA Tournament qualifier Wentworth led the way with five All-Conference selections, all of which are juniors or sophomores. JWU also had five selections, followed by Rivier with four.

Wentworth saw two named to the First Team in juniors Alex Potts and GNAC Tournament MVP Jake Reed. Potts ranked first among conference leaders with a .525 hitting percentage and was third with 0.97 blocks per set, while Reed was seventh with 2.90 kills per set and eighth with a .336 hitting percentage.

Rivier had sophomore Grant Andler and junior Tyler Blank selected as First Team honorees. Andler ranked third in the GNAC in kills per set (3.41) and Blank was tops in the conference with 11.31 assists per set for the Raiders.

Rounding out the GNAC First Team was Lasell College junior Patrick MacDonald, who ranked fourth among conference leaders with 3.16 kills per set. 

Mount Ida College was honored with the honorable GNAC Institutional Sportsmanship Award.

Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement. 

First Team
Jared Gross, Emerson (Sr., L, Wexford, Pa.)
Barrett Wingard, Emmanuel (Sr., OH, York, Pa.)
Patrick MacDonald, Lasell (Jr., RS, Floral Park, N.Y.)
Grant Andler, Rivier (So., OPP, Chicago, Ill.)
Tyler Blank, Rivier (Jr., S, Rochester, N.Y.)
Alex Potts, Wentworth (Jr., MH, Niverville, N.Y.)
Jake Reed, Wentworth (Jr., OH, Arvada, Colo.)

Second Team
Jackson Wiley, Emerson (Sr., OH, Los Angeles, Calif.)
Ryan Jackson, Lasell (Sr., OH, Canton, Ohio) 
Kyle Eva, Johnson & Wales (Sr., MB, Charlestown, R.I.)
Cameron Ponce, Johnson & Wales (Fr., S, San Jose, Calif.)
Sean Mullen, Wentworth (So., OH, Longwood, Fla.)
Jon Roat, Wentworth (So., OPP, Macedon, N.Y.)
Mike Rogachefsky, Wentworth (Jr., L, Rochester, N.Y.)

Third Team
Brendan McGonigle, Emerson (Sr., S, Los Angeles, Calif.)
Kevin Gallegos, Emmanuel (Sr., L, Los Angeles, Calif.)
Brendan Baker, Johnson & Wales (Jr., OPP, Providence, R.I.)
Ryan Kennedy, Johnson & Wales (Sr., OH, West Barnstable, Mass.)
Rakeem Malone, Johnson & Wales (Sr., MB, St. Thomas, USVI)
Matt Heckler, Rivier (So., MH, Simi Valley, Calif.)
Ian Wolski, Rivier (Jr., OH, Westfield, Mass.)

Offensive Player of the Year – Barrett Wingard, Emmanuel
Defensive Player of the Year – Jared Gross, Emerson
Rookie of the Year – Cameron Ponce, Johnson & Wales
Coach of the Year – Craig Kolek, Rivier
Institutional Sportsmanship Award – Mount Ida College

All-Sportsmanship Team
Ben Spilka, Albertus Magnus
Ben Hillman, Emerson
Barrett Wingard, Emmanuel
Raheem Malone, Johnson & Wales
Andrew Glenn, Lasell
Nathan Sprengle, Mount Ida
Garrett Bucklin, Rivier
Zach Newhouse, Wentworth

~Release courtesy of the GNAC~