Ritter, Giglio Highlight Men's Volleyball's All-GNAC Honors

BOSTON, Mass. – The Great Northeast Athletic Conference today announced its men's volleyball major award winners and all-conference teams and the two-time defending champion Wentworth Leopards were well represented with eight members of the program honored by the conference, including junior setter Collin Ritter (Feeding Hills, Mass.), who was named the 2017 GNAC Offensive Player of the Year, and head coach Evin Giglio, who earned conference coach of the year honors.

Ritter, who was also a first team All-GNAC selection, was joined on the first team by senior outside hitter Jake Reed (Arvada, Colo.). Senior right side hitter Alex Potts (Niverville, N.Y.) and senior outside hitter Sean Mullen (Longwood, Fla.) were each named to the second team, while senior middle hitter Mike Hansen (Rochester, N.Y.), junior right side hitter Jon Roat (Macedon, N.Y.), and senior libero Mike Rogachefsky (Rochester, N.Y.) were each third team selections. Additionally, Hansen was Wentworth's representative to the conference's all-sportsmanship team.

Previously selected to the All-GNAC Team in 2014 (first team) and 2015 (second team), Ritter earns his third all-conference rod after he averaged 9.30 assists per set in 96 sets (29 matches). He had a career-high 65 assists in a 3-2 win over Johnson & Wales on March 25, matched a career high with three aces in a 3-1 win over Rivier on March 28, and, in that match, had a career-high seven blocks. Ritter was named to the GNAC All-Tournament Team after averaging 10.63 assists per set, including dishing out 47 helpers in the GNAC title match against Lasell. For his career Ritter has played in 91 matches (101 sets) and is first all-time in program history averaging 9.74 assists per set while his 2,933 assists rank him second, his 161 block assists rank him sixth, and his 458 digs are ninth on the program's all-time list.

For the fourth straight season Reed has been an all-conference selection and this season marks the third straight season he has been selected to the first team. The most valuable player of both the 2016 and 2017 GNAC Tournaments, Reed has played in 27 matches thus far (96 sets) and is averaging 3.48 kills per set, has an attack percentage of .327, and is averaging 0.39 service aces and 1.18 digs per set. He had a career-high 30 kills in a 3-2 win over Johnson & Wales on March 25 and had 20 kills in the Leopards' 3-2 win over Lasell in the GNAC title match. His 30 kills are the third-most in a single match in program history. In 117 career matches (406 sets), Reed is the program's all-time leader in kills (1,260) and points (1,544) while he ranks second in service aces (175) and service aces per set (0.43). His 117 matches and 406 sets played are both third on the program's all-time list while he ranks fourth in kills per set (3.10) and sixth in both digs (534) and attack percentage (.287).

The 2015 GNAC Rookie of the Year and third team all-conference selection that same season, Mullen picks up the second all-conference nod of his career. In 28 matches (91 sets), he is averaging 2.79 kills, 0.57 aces, and 1.55 digs per set. He had a career-high 26 kills in a 3-2 win over Johnson & Wales on March 26, hit a career-best .467 in a 3-2 win over Benedictine-Mesa on March 10, and notched a career high with seven blocks on two occasions. Mullen was named to the GNAC All-Tournament Team after recording 21 kills, six aces, and 19 digs in the Leopards' two matches. In 91 career matches (308 sets), Mullen is the program's all-time leader in service aces (202) and service aces per set (0.66) while his 793 kills and 1,070.5 points rank him sixth in program history while he is eighth in digs (469) and 10th in attack percentage (.231).

A two-time (2015, 2016) First Team All-GNAC selection, Potts earns a spot on the second team after averaging 2.29 kills and 0.80 blocks per set. He had a career-high 15 kills in a 3-1 win over Johnson & Wales on February 18 and a career-high eight blocks in a 3-1 win over UC-Santa Cruz on March 11. All of Potts' blocks in that match were assisted blocks and were the fourth-most in a single match in program history. He also had a career-best eight digs in a 3-2 loss to Hunter on March 4. Potts, who was named an American Volleyball Coaches' Association All-American and led all of Division III in attack percentage as a junior, is the program's all-time block leader with 371 and is also on top of the program's rankings for attack percentage (.393) and block assists (299). He is also tied for third in matches played (117), fifth in kills (797), fifth in points (1,093.5), and fifth in sets played (374).

Hansen picks up the first all-conference honor of his career after averaging a team-high 1.02 blocks per set. Playing in 27 matches (88 sets), he matched a career high with nine blocks in a 3-2 loss to Hunter on March 4 and in a 3-1 win over Rivier on March 28 and had a career-best four block solos in a 3-1 win over Vassar on January 21. For his career he has played in 92 matches (245 sets) and is fourth in program history with 187 block assists, fifth in blocks per set, seventh in total blocks (232), and 10th in matches played (92).

A Second Team All-GNAC selection last season, Roat earns a spot on the third team this season after averaging 2.08 kills per set, 0.44 service aces per set, and 1.36 digs per set. Roat had a career-high 21 kills in a 3-1 win over Johnson & Wales on February 18, and, in that match, he hit a career-high .486. He also had a career-high five aces in a 3-0 win over Emmanuel on February 22. In 86 career matches (290 career sets) he is seventh all-time in program history with 93 service aces, eighth in attack percentage (.234), and ninth with 696 kills.

Rogachefsky earns his third All-GNAC nod having been named to the third team in 2015 and second team in 2016. This season he has recorded 217 digs which is the seventh-highest total in a single season in program history while his 2.28 digs per set are the ninth-most in a season for the Leopards. Rogachefsky is third all-time in program history with 645 digs and is tied for third with 117 matches played. He is also sixth on Wentworth's all-time list for digs per set (1.80) and sets played (359).

Giglio earns his second conference coach of the year award, having also been honored in 2014. Now in his sixth season with the Black & Gold he has a pair of GNAC Regular-Season and Tournament Championships to his credit and this season marks the fifth straight season he has guided Wentworth to 20 or more wins. Ranked in the AVCA Top 15 all season, the fifth-ranked Leopards have tied the program record for wins with 27 and are also riding a 10-match win streak which ties the program record. In his six seasons Giglio has amassed an impressive record of 133-59 (.693) which includes a 76-20 (.792) mark in conference play.

Making its second straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Tournament and will play the winner of Juniata/NYU in the national quarterfinals on Friday, April 28, at a time to be determined.

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