We will start tonight with a few accolades from players around the country.
Let’s start at Eastern Nazarene College in Massachusetts where setter Aaron Huang notched his 1,000th career assist last night during their win over Regis. Aaron is leading the team with 107 assists on the young season. Congrats to him for this great accomplishment.
Congrats to junior setter Matt Albano from Hiram, Ohio. He achieved his 1,000th assist in his career this past week. He is only the third player to do this in the history of the program. Kudos Matt!
Luke Frankenfield of Kean University, a 6′ 4″ setter from St. Louis, Missouri, has surpassed the 1,000-assist mark on his career. Luke has been a fixture for the Cougars since 2020. His fifth-year season has gotten off to a fantastic start earning his first triple double in January. Keep it up Luke!!!
Some big games to watch this weekend as the Top 25 comes into focus in Week 4 of the season winds down. Here are some feature games to catch via live stream or stay tuned to…
Thursday: NYU at Hunter 6PM, Cal Lutheran at Messiah 7PM, Carthage at Juniata 7PM
Friday: Stevens at Carthage 5PM, Nichols at Misericordia 6PM, UCSC at St. John Fisher 6PM, Mount Union vs Juniata 7:30PM
Saturday: Carthage vs Mount Union 11AM, Rutgers vs Nichols 1PM, Stevens vs Mount Union 1:30PM, Hobart vs. UCSC 2PM, Dominican at Loras 3PM, Rutgers at Misericordia 3PM, Benedictine vs Baldwin Wallace 3:30PM, Stevens vs Juniata 4PM, Hobart vs. St. John Fisher 4PM, Vassar at Springfield 6PM, NYU at St. Joe’s LI 7PM
Turning to tonight’s schedule, the big 4 from Lasell were on fire tonight as the Lasers downed MIT in straight sets. Brendan Joyce (10 kills, 3 aces, .412), Jordan Shinaut (9 kills, 0 errors, .643), Theo Zaharewicz (11 kills, 4 blocks, .364), and Jan Baronowski (5 kills, .500) contributed on the potent Laser attack. Both teams will participate in the Springfield Classic this weekend.
Marymount edged Lancaster Bible in three tight sets to improve to 6-0 on the season. Devon Robinson led the Saints in kills with 13 and Diego Pena added 11 kills and 3 blocks. Joe Crowder notched 26 assists and Darvin Guan lifted 12 digs on the Saints defense. Marymount will start it’s CVC conference schedule this weekend as they host Roanoke and Immaculata.
Buffalo State picked up their first win in program history as they down Penn State Behrend in 5 sets. The home team rallied in set five to win 15-6 to the delight of the crowd. Despite being a first-year program, State has put together some nice assets including 6′ 5″ RS freshman recruits Jake Woelfel and 6′ 4″ freshman Kaden Strong in addition to Medaille transfer senior Melachi Jackson. The Bengals took Baldwin Wallace to 4 games and Eastern Mennonite to 5 before tonight’s win. We expect them to continue to improve as they get more playing time under their belts.
Manhattanville setters Pedro Barros Machado and Idris Idris combined for 28 assists and Joe Gandarillas had 9 kills, 6 digs, and 6 aces to lead the Valiants to their first win of the season over Pratt. Pratt will hit the road this weekend to play Regis in Weston, Massachusetts and on to Nashua, New Hampshire to face both Rivier and Ramapo.
Kean dumped Arcadia in straight sets tonight in Union, NJ. Luke Frankenfield has really excelled this season in a dual role as he posts 12 digs, 13 assists, and 9 kills for the Cougars. Nice performances by both Danny Pugliano and Ryan DiCandilo as Danny slams 5 kills and hits .444 and Ryan smashes 6 kills and turns back 7 big blocks.
IH gives the nod to Lasell’s Theo Zaharewicz for Co-Player of the Night honors. The 6′ 8″ outside from Bethany, CT was a key component in the Lasers win over MIT this evening. Great job Theo!
IH also wants to recognize Jake Woelfel of Buffalo State for his performance against Penn State Behrend. He receives Co-Player of the Night honors as well as the freshman is off to a great start for the Bengals. His 21 kills, 10 digs and 4 blocks were instrumental in their first win of the season. Congrats Jake!!!
