BOSTON, Mass. – Last season, the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's volleyball team played through yet another historic campaign. The Leopards won their second straight and fourth overall Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Tournament after reaching the semifinals in 2022.
The Black & Gold open the 2024 slate on January 20 in a tri-match featuring two opponents getting recognition on the national stage: No. 1 Stevens and MIT, who is receiving votes in the AVCA preseason poll. Wentworth is ready to continue its prominence across the Division III landscape again this year, seeking a fourth straight berth into the NCAA Tournament by battling with some of the nation's best programs.
"We have a few really exciting things happening this season. For the first time, we're hosting a joint tournament (Fenway Volleyball Classic) with Emmanuel which will feature some of the top teams from New England and New York," said head coach Evin Giglio, who's entering his 13th season at the helm. "Our spring break will take us out to Southern California again where we should face three nationally ranked programs and Moorpark Junior College (which I attended)."
Returning 15 letterwinners from last season's squad, the Black & Gold have been picked to repeat as GNAC Champions, picking up six of a possible eight first-place votes and accumulating 62 points in the GNAC Preseason Poll. Senior Jacob LaBouliere (Pipersville, Pa.), the GNAC's Offensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row last year and an AVCA First Team All-American in 2022, leads the returning corps for the Leopards, along with a handful of other all-league performers a season ago: sophomore Brayden Green, the GNAC's Rookie of the Year; junior Sam Etter (Massillon, Ohio), a First Team All-GNAC and AVCA All-Region selection; sophomore Nicolai Bell (Moraga, Calif.), a GNAC All-Rookie and FrogJump Volleyball All-Freshman team selection; and sophomore Mason Andrade, a GNAC All-Rookie selection.
On the national stage, the Leopards have been recognized in two preseason polls. In the AVCA Division III Men's Top 20, Wentworth matched its highest-ever national ranking, checking in at No. 3 with 398 points. The No. 3 ranking matches their preseason ranking from a season ago, the highest ranking in program history, and comes after finishing 2023 ranked No. 7. Frog Jump Volleyball also recognized the Leopards, ranking them No. 5 in their preseason poll. In addition, LaBouliere was named a Frog Jump Volleyball Preseason All-American for the second season in a row.
Wentworth faces eight nationally ranked opponents this season in No. 1 Stevens, No. 9 NYU, No. 10 New Paltz, No. 12 Cal Lutheran, T-No. 14 UC Santa Cruz, T-No. 16 Lasell, No. 19 Baldwin Wallace, and No. 20 Marymount. The Leopards face Cal Lutheran, UC Santa Cruz, and Marymount at the Cal-Lu-fornia Classic taking place March 8-9. Two of Wentworth's other opponents – MIT and Nichols – also received votes in the AVCA poll. The Black & Gold will play Lasell twice in the regular season as part of the GNAC schedule. The two teams split in last year's regular season with the Leopards prevailing in the finale, the GNAC title match, for the second season in a row.
"The team is a good mix of experienced veterans and talented first year guys. This group is certainly the most depth we've had and it's showing up every day in the amount of competition in the gym," added Giglio. "If we want to make another appearance in the NCAA tournament, we're going to need everyone to play at a high level."
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