April 29, 2024
The long NCAA Men’s D3 Volleyball season came to a close on Sunday with the Kingsmen of Cal Lutheran earning a straight set victory over Vassar to claim the sports highest title. Since week one, Cal Lutheran has brought their strong style of play to every match, have multiple standout performers on both the attack and on defense, and simply would not be denied of their goal to become D3 Champion.
The team we watched Sunday was slightly different than the one we observed for numerous regular season matches. There was a quiet calm that seemed bred in every player. A confidence, perhaps, that only teams of destiny possess. After the first set, despite some back-and-forth leads, the ultimate result never seemed in doubt. And we have seen our share of comebacks and reverse sweeps these past few weeks. But not Sunday. Not in this game.
The Kingsmen finished the season at 26-5 with 2 of their losses coming at the hands of D1 schools Cal Northridge and Santa Barbara. After losing to Wentworth at home on March 6 at the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational, they took almost a month off other than an Alumni match and regrouped in April to make their championship run. They ran the table and won their last 7 games of the season.
Their top 6 players played in at least 107 sets of the 113 played. The “Sweet 6″ were junior setter Taylor Marks, senior libero Logan Marks, senior outside hitter Jordan Cooper, senior RS Michael Stahl, senior outside Ben Weber, and 6’10” junior middle Borys Horiuk.
We are attaching our Cal Lutheran Pre-Season Report issued back on November 13, 2023. We predicted the Kingsmen to finish at 25-5 and they came in one better at 26-5. We expected them to be in the top 6 after finishing 18-11 and ranked 16th in 2023. And we learned our lesson to not take junior college transfers lightly. We expected Jordan Cooper coming from D1 to make his mark, but the Michael Stahl impact was just not measured. The Kingsmen managed their transfers better than other schools like Hunter, Rutgers, and other teams getting an influx.
Individual player accomplishments:
Whenever you look back on championship team’s season, we start with the setter. You just can’t win a National Championship without having an extraordinary strategist conducting the orchestra. Junior Taylor Marks has been the straw that stirs the drink for the Kingsmen. Taylor posted 1,150 assists and averaged over 10/set. He played in every match and every set for the team this year. Taylor is one of those kids that is super athletic. The Woodland, California native is just as comfortable with a basketball or football, but volleyball has now taken over as his primary release. Marks also provided 32 aces, 229 digs, and 42 overall blocks this season. But his leadership made the difference during this championship run. And being beside his older brother on the court when the whistle blew was an experience that he and the family will never forget.
The additions of Jordan Cooper and Michael Stahl would have turned any program in the country into a contender but the fit at Cal Lutheran with all the other pieces was just pure perfection. Both players were workhorses on the attack putting up over 900 points combined (not a typo), both averaged near 3.5 kills per set, Michael hit .322 and Jordan hit just under .300. Jordan had 48 aces compared to Michael’s 29, but Michael lifted 202 digs compared to 145. Both players had 52 total blocks. These numbers are top notch and usually if you are lucky, you can see this kind of input from one player on your squad. But 2 players providing this type of output is rarely seen.
One of the most important aspects of any team’s offense is serve-receive. Three players dominated this category for the Kingsmen and had similar results. 94% of every serve received by Cal Lut in 2024 was from three players… Ben Weber (543) .956, Logan Marks (652) .957, and Jordan Cooper (586) .959. Solid and consistent numbers for CLU all season.
Senior Logan Marks made some significant changes this season and rose to the occasion. In 2023, he was one of the top contributors on the attack. But he stepped into the libero role to complete the strategic formulation of the top team in the country. At 6’4″, especially at the D3 level, that size is usually leveraged at pin or even middle. What a grand show of leadership from a player to step into a brand-new role, especially as a senior, and then achieve at the highest level. Logan led the team in digs, service receptions and reception percentage.
One of the tallest players on the D3 landscape is Borys Horiuk, the Kingsmen middle. His 6’10” frame can be intimidating and he is a perfect complement to the high flying left and right-side attacks from CLU. He was one more asset to deploy for Taylor Marks and Borys did not disappoint. He slammed 175 kills, hit .378. and also notched a monster 81 blocks in 2024.
Added notes… 4 players are the CLU roster attended Jesuit High School in Sacramento, CA. All players on the CLU roster are from California.
Lots of seniors on this team. We will see if they follow suit with last year’s winners Stevens and take advantage of the extra year of eligibility for those seniors and make a quest for a repeat.
