Hoboken, N.J. – The Stevens Institute of Technology men’s volleyball team is set to host the opening rounds of the NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship this week inside Canavan Arena.
Action begins Thursday with two play-in matches. Massachusetts Institute of Technology will take on St. Joseph’s University Long Island, while Endicott College faces Lancaster Bible College.
Stevens will meet the winner of the MIT-St. Joseph’s Long Island match on Friday in the First Round. In the other First Round matchup, the winner of Endicott-Lancaster Bible will square off against California Lutheran University.
The two First Round winners will then meet Saturday night, with a trip to the National Semifinals on the line.
The Ducks won a fifth straight Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Championship last Saturday night, also clinching a fifth straight season with at least 25 wins. MAC Tournament MVP Ryan Schmid and Julius Stiemer lead the Ducks with more than 450 kills between them as the duo, along with middle hitter Tyler Hoke, were named All-MAC First Team on Monday afternoon; Hoke led the Ducks with 63 total blocks, averaging 0.90 per set. In addition to Schmid and Stiemer, seven other Ducks have recorded at least 70 kills this year, highlighting the depth of their roster. That depth is on full display on the defensive side of the ball as well, with six Ducks recording at least 105 digs this season.
MIT officially clinched just their second NCAA appearance in program history (2014) with a four-set win over New Paltz in the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Championship Sunday afternoon. The youth movement is in full effect for the Engineers as their top four players in kills per set, top two in digs per set, and top two in blocks per set are all first-years or sophomores, led by UVC Tournament MVP Nate Toth, the team leader in kills and digs.
St. Joseph’s – Long Island capped a second straight unbeaten Skyline Conference campaign with sweeps of St. Joseph’s – Brooklyn and Manhattanville in the conference tournament. SJNY is led offensively by freshman Shaun Mischler and junior Declan Kerns, who’ve each tallied 200+ kills this season, and defensively by seniors Connor Ruais and Sarnicola, who’ve each recorded more than 2.9 digs per set.
Endicott enters NCAAs winners of 21 straight matches following a 1-3 start to the season, including sweeps over SUNY Potsdam and Nichols in the New England Volleyball Conference (NEVC) Tournament to punch their ticket. Seniors Aidan Iacovelli and Jake Laborde have combined for more than half of the team’s kills (573 of 1,133). Defensively, junior Dan Battista’s 293 digs/3.71 digs per set are both more than double any other Gull’s total.
Lancaster Bible have won eight of nine, including back-to-back sweeps in the United East Tournament over Gallaudet and Wilson, respectively; in fact, the Chargers have not dropped a set in their last four matches. Braden Escover, Kevin Bryant, and Carson Hoover have all recorded 240+ kills this season, with Bryant hitting 0.452, good for fourth in all D-III.
The Endicott-LBC winner would face Cal Lutheran, national semifinalists last season and national finalists in 2024. The Kingsmen boast one of the tallest rosters in the pod, as the team’s top seven non-liberos in sets played all stand 6-4 or taller, including 6-5 Brendan Hom, 6-6 Connor Crawford, and 6-5 Tyler Linville – the team’s top three in kills –, plus 6-7 Matthew Wilcox and 6-6 Mason Rowell, the team’s top two in blocks.
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