2009 GNAC Women’s Volleyball Championship Preview
The two top teams in regular season play; #1 Seed Emerson
College and #2 Seed Johnson & Wales University will be on
display this weekend at the 2009 GNAC Women’s Volleyball
Championship on November 7th at Emerson’s Bobbi Brown and
Steven Plofker Gymnasium in Boston, Mass. at 1:00 pm.
#1 Seed Emerson College (29-6, GNAC 12-0): The
top-ranked Lions are making their first appearance in the GNAC
finals, and will be vying for the program’s first GNAC
Volleyball Championship.
Emerson won the very competitive GNAC Conference regular season
title by one match this season (going undefeated in conference
play), ahead of second-place team and finals opponent Johnson &
Wales. Emerson and Johnson & Wales last met on Sept. 26 at
Norwich, a game which Emerson won 3-1.
Junior Lauren Zaniboni leads the conference in hitting percentage
(.392, 1st), blocks per game (1.36, 1st), and ranks second in kills
per game (.361) and services aces (0.81).
#2 Seed Johnson & Wales University (23-14, GNAC
11-1): The second-seeded Wildcats are making their third
straight and 9th overall appearance in the conference finals, and
will be vying for the program’s fifth GNAC Championship.
Johnson & Wales won four consecutive GNAC titles between
1999-2002, their four tournament championships are the most of any
team in GNAC history.
The Wildcats will enter the match against the Lions on a six-game
winning streak after suffering a non-conference loss to Bates on
Oct. 23.
As a team Johnson & Wales ranks among conferences leaders in
several categories, kills per game (11.47, 1st), assists per game
(9.44, 2nd), services aces per game (2.84, 3rd), hitting percentage
(.232, 3rd), and blocks per game (1.44, 5th).
* all statistics through Nov. 2, 2009
