Volleyball Heads to No. 2 Johnson & Wales Thursday for GNAC Semis

THURSDAY, NOV. 1 // 7:30 PM  GNAC SEMIFINALS WILDCAT CENTER PROVIDENCE, R.I.
LIVE STATS // VIDEO SERIES RECORD // SUFFOLK TRAILS, 0-18 LAST MEETING // OCT. 27, 2018, L, 3-0 LAST SUFFOLK WIN // NEVER STREAK // L18 EYES ON THE MATCH

BOSTON – Suffolk volleyball will make its first-ever appearance in the GNAC semifinals Thursday, Nov. 1 when the Rams travel to No. 2 Johnson & Wales. The tournament's fifth and first seed are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. first serve at JWU's Wildcat Center. 

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2018 GNAC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT 

Tuesday, Oct. 30 – Quarterfinals
Match 1: #1 Johnson & Wales defeated #8 Saint Joseph's (Maine), 3-0
Match 2: #5 Suffolk defeated #4 Lasell, 3-0
Match 3: #3 Colby Sawyer defeated #6 Simmons, 3-1
Match 4: #2 Rivier defeated #7 Emmanuel, 3-0 

Thursday, Nov. 1 – Semifinals
Match 5: #5 Suffolk at #1 Johnson & Wales
Match 6: #3 Colby Sawyer at #2 Rivier 

Saturday, Nov. 3 – Championship (at Highest Remaining Seed)
Match 7: Winner of Match 6 vs. Winner of Match 6

LAST TIME OUT
The Suffolk volleyball team rewrote history twice Tuesday night as the Rams defeated Lasell in the GNAC Quarterfinals with both the win over the Lasers and in the league quarterfinals a first in program history. The victory came in straight sets by scores of 25-20, 25-21 and 26-24. 

MORE READING: Volleyball Makes History, Sweeps Lasell to Advance to GNAC Semis

RAMS IN THE POSTSEASON

• Suffolk will make its first-ever trip to the GNAC semifinals. 
• The Rams are in the midst of their 13th postseason run and third straight. 
• Suffolk is making its second tournament rip as the fifth seed, the highest finish for Suffolk since being fourth in the 2005 field. 
• The Rams and Wildcats will meet in the postseason for the third time. 
• Suffolk looks for its first-ever berth to the conference championship. 

RAMS RUNDOWN
Suffolk's history win Tuesday night moved the Rams to 12-16 on the season. 
 

The Rams' offense has been propelled by a cluster of four constant contributors in Hannah Fabiano (2.20 kps), Chidera Nwankwo (2.13 kps), Kayla Barbera (2.11 kps) and Bridget Allison (1.74 kps). Talia Lombardo has held down Suffolk's setter responsibilities, dishing out 8.07 assists per set.  

Defensively, Dakhensey Marcellus has proved to be the third-best setter in the GNAC with 4.51 dps and has received help from Barbera (2.56 dps) and Emma Feeney (2.49 dps) with Allison's 0.56 bps helping at the net. 

WILDCAT WAYS
Johnson & Wales (29-1) is not far removed from its regular-season showdown with Suffolk as the two foes just met last Saturday. The Wildcats took that meeting to keep their impressive October undefeated streak intact and extended it to win streak to 14 matches, all of which came in straight sets, with a quarterfinals sweep of Saint Joseph's (Maine).  

Kate Walker (3.19 kps) and Maria Coniglio (3.05 kps) each produce over 3.00 kps for JWU's conference-best 14.19 kps. Brylee Frank is solely responsible for setting up the Wildcat offense with the junior dishing out 11.05 aps.  

Elyssa Nicholas' 4.83 dps leads the way defensively with Coniglio and Frank adding 2.69 dps and 2.65 dps, respectively. Walker paces the pack at the net with 0.75 bps. 

WE MEET AGAIN
The Suffolk volleyball team faced its first known nationally ranked opponent in recent history and could not overcome the powerhouse of No. 2 Johnson & Wales as the Wildcats took care of business in straight sets Saturday afternoon at the Wildcat Center. The Rams' GNAC setback came by set scores 25-15, 25-16 and 25-12. 

MORE READING:No. 2 Johnson & Wales Too Much for Volleyball

INSIDE THE SERIES

• Suffolk is set for a rematch with Johnson & Wales as the conference foes met less than a week ago in Providence. 
• The Rams have yet to take down the Wildcats as the blue-and-gold trails the all-time series, 0-18. 
• JWU has swept Suffolk 15 times with one match going five sets and two being decided in 3-1 decisions. 

EYES ON THE MATCH

WHAT'S TO COME?
The winner of Thursday's tilt will secure its spot in the 2018 GNAC Championship and take on the victor of second-seed Rivier and third-seed Colby Sawyer Saturday, Nov. 3.