January 24, 2024
It’s a wonderful Wednesday in the third week of the Men’s NCAA D3 Volleyball season. Let’s jump in…
It’s hard not to notice the return of Nate Davis to Sarah Lawrence. Nate had some amazing accomplishments as a freshman setting single game and single season records for kills. He had 461 kills recorded in 2022. He has picked up where he left off in two games this season. We expect to see his name riddled through our blog throughout the season. FYI.
New Paltz kicked off their season in fine fashion, getting out the broom, and pushing around Rutgers in a clean sweep. Pat Wing and Krish Jain handled most of the attack duties, Wing with 8 kills and Jain with 6. Chris Larkin had 4 kills, three aces, and 7 digs for the Hawks. Lucas Blanco led the Raiders with 10 kills and 2 aces. The Hawks will have two tough assignments next on their schedule this weekend, facing both Nichols and #1 Wentworth.
Hunter hosted Arcadia today in Manhattan which turned out to be the “feel-good” story of the night. Especially for the Hawks and their fans. Arcadia jumped out fast and furious and edged the home Hawks in the first two sets and looked to be on their way to a sweep. But Hunter shook off the early cobwebs and dominated the match from that point on, reverse sweeping the Knights and limiting them to 18, 18 and 9 in the fifth. Cooper Moran used all his weapons, notched 48 assists, and added 10 digs to his nightly resume. The weapons referred to came at the Knights fast and furious during the second half of the match with Muhammad Al-Amine Mbaye clobbering 19 kills (.361), Matisse Lee-Marek punching out 10 (.444) Annes Deljanin uncorking 10 (.667), Jimmy Chang smacking 9 kills (.333) and Kyle Foley spearing 8 kills. Sergio Aguado and Cooper Moran held down the back line lifting 13 and 10 digs respectively. Both Deljanin and Mbaye had 5 blocks each. We caught up with Hunter Head Coach Chris Schortgen after the match to gauge his feelings on the night. She shared “Tonight’s win was a step in the right direction. I’m proud of the growth the players showed as the match progressed with serving and line up adjustments, on a team that already includes so many new players. A lot of positives to take away and we’re all excited for the season.“ IH has Hunter at #24 in the country in our recent ranking.
Another really top-quality performance by Kean’s Luke Frankenfield tonight as the Cougars turn back NJAC rival NJCU at Kean. Luke showed his versatility by chalking up 29 assists, 11 digs, and 14 kills with just one attack error to lead the win. Chris Mitchell had 16 kills and Tyler Quinn and Aidan Flinn combined for 26 digs defensively. The “INN” combo was not letting anything drop on the Cougar side of the net. Fifth year middle Brandon DaSilva led the Gothic Knights attack with 14 kills. New recruit Marcus Pardasie was fed early and often, collecting 34 attacks, with 8 kills and 9 digs for the night. Kean now holds the early advantage in the 4 team NJAC.
First year program Virginia Wesleyan continues to show they can hold their own against good competition as they take a set from Randolph Macon tonight. The Yellow Jackets had a strong attack from Ian Wagenhauser, Brooks Cowart and Kody Rogan as they combined for 31 kills in the 3-1 win. Shouting out senior Cade Terrell who posted 26 assists and an ace tonight at setter. The Dolphins continue to get stellar play from Landon Brinkley, Matt Sheppard, and Jamarhe Wills.
Evan Costly had 14 kills and Dylan Mulvaney added 25 assists as Springfield turned back Eastern Nazarene tonight in 4 sets. The Pride struggled at the service line tonight with 27 service errors, but the rest of their game appeared flawless. Eastern Naz’ attack was led by Alejandro Garcia Fernandez and Delfy Soler, but the Pride limited the Lions to a hitting percentage of .070 for the night.
SUNY Poly picked up their first win of the young season tonight with a straight set victory over Sage. Josh Slater had 21 assist and James Mion had 8 kills, 3 blocks, and zero attack errors. Jordan Weir added 3 aces for the winners. Sage was led on the attack by Dylan Fox and Jarod Martel who combined for 16 kills. The Wildcats had a vicious start to their schedule facing Misericordia, Elmira, Nazareth and Lasell. They improved to 1-4.
Kennedy Ibezim and Eusebio Veras were perfect on the attack tonight with no errors and a combined 15 kills to lead St. Elizabeth over Bryn Athyn in straight sets. Diego Rondon had 28 assists and 3 aces while Kodi Peters had 11 digs and 8 kills for the winners. Teagan Dewees had an outstanding performance for Bryn Athyn posting 9 kills 11 digs and 2 service aces.
Eastern edged Neumann in 4 sets tonight powered by Rodney Quarles 14 digs and 6 kills. Symir Byrd spanked 10 kills and Max Bagileo swatted 7 while Bagileo and Jarred Barch each collected 4 blocks. Trey Edmonds led the Neumann attack with game high 16 kills while adding 10 digs. Elizabethtown transfer Dan Barckholtz led Neumann with 33 assists.
Drew downed John Jay in straight sets and improved to 2-1 on the season. The Rangers hung tough in their last match against Messiah and seem to be far improved over last year’s squad. We will see just how much improved this weekend when they face Elmira, Nazareth and Hobart on the road.
In other matches, Endicott surprised Rivier in 5 sets, Brooklyn College beat SUNY Purchase in 5, and Geneva swept Bethany of West Virginia.
InsideHitter.com awards our Player of the Night to Luke Frankenfield from Kean. Luke was all over the court tonight playing defense, on the service line, at the net with assists, and on the attack. One fan said they even saw him selling hot dogs as a fundraiser for the Cougars during the match. This guy can do it all! Congrats to Luke for winning the Wednesday night honors!!
IH