Neil Rea (1) and the rest of the Rivier men's volleyball team hope to celebrate like this on Saturday when the Raiders face Wentworth in Boston for the GNAC title. File photo courtesy of Rivier Athletics)

BOSTON, Mass. – Following Thursday night’s four-set upset win over No. 19 Lasell in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Semifinals, the Rivier men’s volleyball team will head to No. 3 Wentworth for Saturday’s GNAC title match at Tansey Gymnasium, starting at noon.

The winner will receive the GNAC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

The third-seeded Raiders downed the second seed at the Lasell Athletic Center for their first ranked victory of the campaign in their third straight matchup against the Lasers in the GNAC semifinals. Neil Rea dished out 41 assists while hitting .1000 with seven kills in the triumph. Sokunbuth Ly also had a standout performance, notching 18 kills at a .471 clip.

Wentworth finished the regular-season with a nearly unblemished record, finishing with a 28-1 record to earn the conference’s top seed and the No. 3 national ranking in the AVCA/NVA Division III Coaches Poll. The Leopards spent most weeks atop the national poll after entering the season at the second spot. A late loss to then-unranked Lasell on March 26 knocked them down two spots where they would conclude the campaign. In Thursday night’s semifinal round match against Emmanuel, the Leopards cruised to a three-set victory to advance to the final.

Jacob LaBoouliere, the reigning GNAC Offensive Player of the Year and outside hitter, enters the match with 4.39 kills per set with a .483 hitting percentage. Setter Josh Milke has 843 assists to his credit this season thus far at a 10.67 kills per set rate, earning him eight GNAC weekly awards. Middle blocker Brandon Dunz had 1.07 blocks per set while notching 1.49 kills per set at a .392 percentage.

Rivier and Wentworth will face off in the GNAC Championship for the first time since 2019 when it faced off against Wentworth on home court and defeated the Leopards in straight sets to capture its ninth conference crown in program history. Now, both teams will square off again, this time with the script flipped.

The Raiders entered 2019’s meeting as the top seed while ranked 13th in the AVCA poll with Wentworth coming to town as the second seed. On Saturday, the Leopards will look to defend their home and status as defending champs as the tournament’s top team and the AVCA’s third-ranked team.

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