NEWTON, Mass. (1/15/16) – Lasell College took the number one spot in the 2016 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's volleyball preseason poll as announced by the conference office on Friday morning.

Voted upon by the league's eight head coaches, the reigning GNAC champions received five of eight possible first-place votes for a combined 55 points overall, edging Wentworth Institute of Technology who collected 54 points overall. 

Last season, the Lasers deadlocked with Wentworth with a 10-4 record heading into the GNAC Tournament, where Lasell took out the Lions 3-0 before upsetting the number one seeded Raiders of Rivier University, 3-2, in the conference championship.

Lasell will rely on a dominant veteran squad with a few new members for 2016. The Lasers are already turning heads on the nearing season, as they received 15 votes in the ACVA Division III Men's Coaches Top 15 Preseason Poll.

On Friday, January 22, the Lasers will head to Johnson and Wales University for their opening matchups of the year. Lasell will first square off with Springfield College – ranked first in the AVCA Preseason Poll - and Cairn University, before closing out the tournament with Rutgers-Newark and Endicott College.

2016 GNAC Men's Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Lasell (5) - 55
2. Wentworth - (2) - 54
3. Rivier (1) - 51
4. Johnson & Wales - 46
5. Emmanuel - 33
6. Emerson - 24
7. Mount Ida - 15
8. Albertus Magnus - 10