Cappuccio Voted GNAC Libero of Year, Joins Perez on All-GNAC First Team
WINTHROP, Mass. – Senior Marcello Cappuccio (Scotch Plains, N.J.) was voted Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Libero of the Year and joins junior Joseph Perez (Miami, Fla.) as First Team All-GNAC selections, as the results of voting for conference postseason awards by the league's nine head coaches were announced Monday, April 17.
Cappuccio became the first player in Regis men's volleyball history to collect at least 300 digs in a single season, breaking his own Pride record with 311 digs in 2023. He earned 10 or more digs in 15 matches this year, setting the Regis single-match digs record with 27 digs in a five-set victory at Emerson Feb. 2.
Named GNAC Defensive Player of the Week three times this past season, Cappuccio is eighth in Division III in digs per set at 3.24. He finished his collegiate career with 605 digs, the second player in program history to reach the 600-dig mark at Regis, as he also moved into seventh place on the school's matches played list with 72 career matches.
Perez led the GNAC and is currently 24th in Division III in kills per set at 3.52 as he ended the year with 303 kills, second-most in a single season in program history. He set the overall single-match kills record with 27 kills against Emerson April 1 as well as the three-set match school kills record with 20 kills against Elms March 21.
In total, Perez reached double figures in kills 14 times, including 11 of the last 12 matches he played. He also finished with 25 service aces, 117 digs, and 36 total blocks, plus he has moved into fourth place on the Regis career kills list with 532 kills over the past two seasons.
John Nangle (Lowell, Mass.) was named to the GNAC All-Rookie Team after finishing second on the team in total blocks with 56 and third on the team with 127 kills. He also led the Pride in hitting percentage at .220. In the March 25 victory at Elms, Nangle earned a season-high 12 kills to go along with a .348 hitting percentage, five digs, and three total blocks.
Donovan Ross (Southbridge, Mass.) earned selection to the GNAC Men's Volleyball All-Sportsmanship Team for the second time in his collegiate career after previously receiving recognition in 2020. Ross appeared in 62 sets within 26 matches this season for the Pride, collecting 10 kills, 14 service aces, 51 digs, and 10 total blocks. At Dean April 8, Ross finished with two kills, four service aces, and eight defensive digs.
Regis College ended the 2023 season with a 12-17 overall record, including a 7-9 GNAC mark to finish sixth in the conference standings and qualify for the GNAC Tournament for the second straight year.