FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NASHUA, N.H. - The Rivier University women's volleyball team will once again defend its Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship as they powered through fourth-seeded Emmanuel College, 3-0, in the tournament semifinals at the Muldoon Gymnasium on Thursday evening. The Raiders took the four set match by scores of 25-12, 25-16, and 25-19.

This will be the Raiders' 12th GNAC Championship appearance over the past 14 seasons. The program will also be trying to achieve a three-peat as it won the GNAC Championship in each of the past two seasons (2013 and 2014).

Junior Lauren Silverman (Chelmsford, Mass.) continued to remain red hot as she led the team with nine kills and five total blocks. Classmate Dana Mott (Medway, Mass.) and senior Jackie Pisecco (Chelmsford, Mass.) each added eight kills, with Mott registering a .462 hitting percentage. Senior Emily O'Reilly (San Francisco, Calif.) directed the offense with 31 assists while sophomore libero Bethany Trevino (Westminster, Colo.) recorded an outstanding 20 digs along the back line. Junior Molly McCormack (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) contributed seven kills, seven digs and sophomore Madison Soucy (Tolland, Conn.) collected 13 digs in the three set win.

Emmanuel was led by junior Cassie Chruscielski (Duluth, Minn.), who had six kills and seven digs. The Saints also saw junior Kaitlyn Atkinson (Brookline, N.H.) hammer down four kills and senior Shannon Dudley (Morro Bay, Calif.) dish out 13 assists. Junior Sarah Schemerhorn (Los Angeles, Calif.) totaled 10 digs to lead the defensive effort with freshman Katherine Journeay (Hampton, N.H.) adding six digs in the loss.

Emmanuel sees their 2015 season come to an end. The pre-season favorite in the GNAC Coaches Poll, the Saints finish with an overall record of 12-16 and an 8-3 conference mark.

Rivier (28-5 overall, 11-0 GNAC) will host Johnson and Wales University in the 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship. The winner take all contest will be held on Saturday, November 7th inside the friendly confines of the Muldoon Gymnasium. Game time is slated to begin at 1pm.

Johnson & Wales University, the No. 2 seed in the GNAC Tournament, earned its second consecutive trip to the title game with a three-set win over third-seeded Saint Joseph's College of Maine in Thursday's other GNAC Semifinal contest. 

Courtesy of Rivier Athletics Communications.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Johnson & Wales University volleyball team earned its 12th trip to the GNAC Tournament Championship on Thursday night after taking down third-seeded Saint Joseph's of Maine, 3-0, (25-19, 25-22, 25-23).

Records:
Johnson & Wales: 22-7
Saint Joseph's (ME): 27-6

JWU Statistical Leaders:
Nastasia Kapustin: 19 Kills, 6 Digs, 2 Aces .326 Hitting Percentage
Emily Kalmink: 13 Kills, 4 Blocks, .480 Hitting Percentage
Kellen Tensen: 35 Assists, 10 Digs, 3 Blocks

The Lead:
In the 19-year history of the GNAC Tournament, either Johnson & Wales or its opponent Saturday, top-seed Rivier has been in the match. The two teams have met in the finals five times, including last year's 3-1 win by the Raiders. Rivier has won six GNCA titles to the Wildcats' five.

Of Note:
Freshman Nastasia Kapustin (West Nyack, NY) continues to be on a tear as she tied a career-high with 19 kills. The outside hitter has had double-digit kills in her last four matches as well as eight of her last 10 contests. She's sixth in the conference at 3.01 kills per set.

Her classmate Emily Kalmink (Byron City, Mich.) was just as impressive, recording 13 kills with a .480 hitting percentage. The middle blocker is slightly ahead in fourth place at 3.07 k/s and third in the GNAC with a .343 hitting percentage. Her four blocks upped her average to 0.89 blocks per set, which also rates third in the league.

Setter Kellen Tensen (New Canaan, Conn.) recorded her fourth double-double of the year with 35 assists and 10 digs. She was one of four Wildcats with double-digit digs, topped by libero Julianna Zaharias' (Long Beach, NY) team-high 19.

The Wildcats played strong defense once again as they held an advantage over the Monks for digs (77-66) and blocks (5-1). The 77 digs are the second most for JWU this year and its highest total in a three-set match.

All three sets were tight with the difference being the Wildcats' play down the stretch. Tied at 18-18 in the first set, JWU finish the stanza with a 7-1 run that included two kills and two aces by senior Paula Cadavid (Pawtucket, RI). The second set was knotted at 19-19 before Kapustin took over with four kills during a 6-2 Wildcat run to win the set. JWU was down 22-18 in the third set before Kapustin turned it on again, recording four kills and adding a block to put the match away.

Coachspeak:
"I felt we got a little flat in the third set when we should have been putting our foot on the gas and finishing them off. We showed a lot of resilience and grit to hang in there. We stayed patient and served tough towards the end."

"Nastasia's got the whole game. She mixes up her shots; she can hit for power but also draw a team in and then mix in a tip or roll shot to keep them off balance."     -JWU Head Coach Nancy Somera

Up Next:
The Wildcats will go on the road to take on the Raiders in the GNAC Final at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Rivier won the regular season meeting, 3-0, on October 22. 

Saturday will mark the sixth time that the Raiders and Wildcats have met in the GNAC Championship since 2002. Currently, the Raiders hold a 3-2 advantage over JWU in GNAC Tournament title games, with all of them going at least four sets.

Courtesy of JWU Athletics Communications.

Tuesday, November 3 - Quarterfinals | RECAP
Game 1: #1 Rivier 3, #8 Mount Ida 0 | BOX
Game 2: #4 Emmanuel 3, #5 Anna Maria 0 | BOX
Game 3: #3 Saint Joseph's Maine 3, #6 Simmons 2 | BOX
Game 4: #2 Johnson & Wales 3, #7 Lasell 0 | BOX

Thursday, November 5 - Semifinals
Game 5: #1 Rivier 3, #4 Emmanuel 0 | BOX
Game 6: #2 Johnson & Wales 3, #3 Saint Joseph's Maine 0 | BOX

Saturday, November 7 - Championship
Game 7: #2 Johnson & Wales at #1 Rivier - 1:00 PM