#15 Men’s Volleyball Sweeps Rivier to Advance to GNAC Championship

BOSTON, Mass. – The #15 Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team advanced to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) championship game with a sweep of the Rivier Raiders in the semifinal match on Thursday night. The Leopards will play top-seed Lasell for the GNAC title on Saturday.

Alem Dubcak led the way with 12 kills and added four digs and two blocks. Cody Popp added 10 kills to go with two blocks and two digs. Brayden Green dished out 35 assists and Mekhi Burns tallied 10 digs. Nicolai Bell and Conner Foxwell had four blocks each and combined for six kills. Benjamin Moughon had eight finishes with five service aces.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Moughon opened the set with an ace to give the Leopards a 1-0 lead. The Raiders answered and tied the game before taking a 7-5 lead behind a kill from Everett Boyer and an attack error by the Leopards.
• The sides went back and forth, exchanging points with Bell's finish giving Wentworth a 13-12 edge at the midway mark of the first set. Popp and Dubcak put the Leopards in front 17-15 and Rivier called a timeout. Moughon served back-to-back aces to push the lead to four as Wentworth found a rhythm.
• Bell and Popp combined for a big block to make it 23-17 before Dubcak's ace secured the 25-18 win and gave the Leopards a 1-0 lead.
• Rivier opened the second set with a 3-0 run behind two aces from Boyer. Wentworth rallied to tie the game 5-5 before taking a 10-7 lead behind a block by Green and Foxwell. Popp's finish stretched the Leopards' lead to 16-10 and Rivier called timeout.
• Wentworth went on a 9-6 run to close the set, winning 25-16, and taking a 2-0 lead in the match. Popp and Dubcak added to their tallies with strong finishes while Zegowitz and Turner entered the game and recorded kills to win the second frame.
• The Leopards built an early 4-0 lead behind kills from Popp and back-to-back aces from Moughon to open the third set. Kills from Dubcak and Popp pushed the lead to 10-3 before the Raiders cut the deficit to five.
• Moughon and Dubcak combined to push the lead to 15-7 as the Leopards looked to wrap the game up in three sets. Dubcak added to his tally and Bell tallied another finish to make it a 17-10 game.
• After a Rivier timeout, the Leopards went on an 8-5 run to win set three 25-15 and complete the sweep.

THE SERIES

• Today was the 59^th all-time meeting between the teams.

NEXT UP

• Wentworth will visit top-seed Lasell for the GNAC championship on Saturday.

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