2010 GNAC MEN'S VOLLEYBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS ANNOUNCED
March 29, 2010
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) announced the 2010 Men's Volleyball All-Conference Teams. Emmanuel College had six student-athletes featured on the All-GNAC Teams and Head Coach Chris Wright was named the GNAC Coach of the Year. Curtis Abram (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) was named 1st Team All-GNAC, while Michael Townsend (Beaverdam, Va.), Tyson Rietz (Granite Bay, Calif.) and Keoni Rabaino (Tucson, Ariz.) received 2nd Team honors. Thomas McCaffrey (Massapequa, N.Y.) was selected to the 3rd Team and Taylor Lowe (Malibu, Calif.) was Emmanuel's representative on the All-Sportsmanship Team.
Emmanuel Head Coach Chris Wright was chosen by his peers as the 2010 GNAC Coach of the Year. Coach Wright has been at the hlm of the Saints program for the past five seasons. Wright has led the Saints to an increased number of wins in each of his five seasons at Emmanuel. This year, he has the team at a new program-record for wins in a season with a current mark of 26 victories and just 8 losses. The team went 11-1 in GNAC play and advanced to the GNAC finals. Emmanuel was also ranked 10th in last week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll and the squad has received an automatic bid to the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) post season tournament, which will be played on April 9-11. This is the first time an Emmanuel Men's Volleyball Coach has received Coach of the year honors.
Junior outside hitter Curtis Abram was deserving of 1st Team recognition, after leading the Saints offense all season. Abram is averaging 4.06 kills per set and has been hitting at a clip of .335 this year. He received AVCA National Player of the Week honors on March 8th and has been named the GNAC Player of the Week twice and to the GNAC Weekly Honor Roll 3 times this year. Most recently, Abram was named to the GNAC All-Tournament Team.
Three Emmanuel athletes were selected to the All-Conference 2nd Team. Among them was senior outside hitter Michael Townsend. Townsend is a two-time team captain and a three-time all-conference selection. He is leading the Saints in both services aces and digs this season. Townsend has averaged 0.58 aces per set, which ranks him 10th nationally in this category.
Also receiving nods to the 2nd Team were Tyson Rietz and Keoni Rabaino. Rietz, a junior transfer, has been good for 3.15 kills per set, hitting .277 this season. He has also averaged 1.71 digs and 0.63 blocks per set, which gives him an average of 4.05 points per set. Rabaino is second on the Saints in hitting percentage with a .341 average and is good for 2.13 kills and 0.58 blocks per set.
Junior transfer Thomas McCaffrey made his way on to the 3rd Team All-Conference. McCaffrey leads the team in blocks with 21 solo and 70 assisted blocks this season. His average of 0.98 blocks per set ranks him 19th nationally in this category. McCaffrey has also been a huge addition to the Saints' offense, hitting at .342, the top percentage on the squad, and averaging 1.61 kills per set.
Senior setter Taylor Lowe was named to the All-Sportsmanship Team for Emmanuel. Lowe has shared time with two other Emmanuel setters this season and has set up the Emmanuel offense to hit .270 as a team. Lowe tallied his 3,000th assist this season and is Emmanuel's all-time leader in career assists.
All in all, Emmanuel collected 5 of the 18 spots on the three All-GNAC Teams. The complete list of all-conference team member is as follows:
GNAC MEN'S VOLLEYBALL 2010 ALL CONFERENCE TEAMS
FIRST TEAM
Matt Ferreira, Senior - Rivier
Zach Hansen, Senior - Rivier
Jared Andreozzi, Junior - Rivier
Curtis Abram, Junior - Emmanuel
Brendan McGourn, Sophomore - Lasell
Spencer Parker, Freshman - Lasell
SECOND TEAM
Michael Townsend, Senior - Emmanuel
Thomas Belton, Junior - Mount Ida
Tyson Rietz, Junior - Emmanuel
Taylor Lindner, Freshman - Rivier
Keoni Rabaino, Junior - Emmanuel
Micah Aiu, Sophomore - Lasell
THIRD TEAM
Chris Gauch, Freshman - Johnson & Wales
Thomas McCaffrey, Junior - Emmanuel
Spencer Hastings, Freshman - Mount Ida
Alex Xenidis, Sophomore - Rivier
Dan Rogers, Junior - Lasell
Frank O'Sullivan, Sophomore - Emerson
Eric Minnich, Junior - Johnson & Wales
ALL-SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM
Pedro Suncar Albertus Magnus
Justin Chun Emerson
Taylor Lowe Emmanuel
Tim Haley Johnson & Wales
Micah Aiu Lasell
Spencer Hastings Mount Ida
Andrew Paine Rivier
PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Zach Hansen, Rivier
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Kyle O'Neill, Rivier
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - Tyler Lindner, Rivier
COACH OF THE YEAR - Chris Wright, Emmanuel