1/15/25
Forty D3 teams have already begun their season as we head into a very big weekend for D3 Men’s NCAA Volleyball. Eyes will be wide open as we get to see some of the premier teams this weekend as well as many local and conference rivals getting their first look. It’s looks like 128 teams will be the full universe of D3 teams for 2025. We expect 99% of these teams to have some game action before the 25th. Some teams will have already played 6-7 matches by the end of the upcoming weekend already signaling that this season will go by way to fast. So enjoy every second.
For each blog post this season, we will be sharing some visuals, either sent to us, or that we capture on IG. As you can see below, many are game pics, practice pics, special accolade tributes, or individual player shots. We invite players and coaches to send visuals to promote upcoming matches, player achievements, or any image that you think will resonate with D3 volleyball community. You can send through IG messages, tag us in a post, or email to insidehitter@gmail.com.
After this weekend, we will be posting up to date standings in each conference. For now, we have posted individual team records through last night’s games earlier today. We like to get a couple of weeks of data before we publish computer algorithm ratings but we shared in today’s post some preliminary analysis. Check that out at this link. CLICK HERE
There were a handful of matches last night and tonight. Let’s take a look at what happened:
#25 Randolph Macon had a very nice start to their season with a solid win over former CVC rival #30 Marymount. The Saints took the first set 25-22, but RMC settled down and won the next three sets rather convincingly. Middle Phil Van Essendelft was our player of the game notching 4 blocks and smashing 8 kills on 11 attempts while hitting .636. Ian Wagenhauser had 16 kills and Kody Rogan had 32 assists for the winners. Kody struggled a bit on the service line, an area he normally excels in, so watch out once the season gets further underway. Bryce Mathews added 8 kills for the Yellow Jackets and Rogan led the team with 10 digs.
#19 Aurora enters the season with high hopes and the talent to back it up. They had their first match against NAIA’s Saint Xavier Tuesday. The Spartans rolled 24 players over the 5 sets and came out with 3-2 victory. Josh Mclellan had 10 kills and just 2 errors on 29 attempts. Solomon Dail, Ethan Kane, and Gunner Rodarte combined for 15 kills and no hitting errors. Logan Brouwer, AJ Vescova, and Luke Dwyer combined for 42 assists. Alex Nonhof led all Spartan players with 13 digs. It was a reverse sweep for Aurora and a 15-10 third set win.
Mount Union continues their solid play for 2025 with a straight set win over Geneva. Lots of players contributed to this “team” win including Peyton Koszelak with 9 digs, Michael Bowler with 4 blocks, 5 kills, and hitting .500, Cameron Weeg with 3 blocks, 4 digs, and 5 kills without a hit error, Jake Nussdorfer and Aaron Armour with 6 kills, and Max Kaiser with 21 assists, 3 kills and a block. Geneva struggled with hitting percentage (.014 for the match) and could not get their block defense going against the Purple Raiders attack.
Arcadia dropped the first set Tuesday night to Kean but rebounded with three straight set victories to win their very close match over the Cougars 3-1. Riley Kodidek was outstanding for Arcadia with 44 assists, 9 digs, 2 aces and 2 kills. Josh Clendenning had a whopping 20 kills over the 4 sets and Danny Gonzalez added 14. Chris Mitchell played well for the Cougars knocking down 12 kills and adding 4 blocks and Tyler Quinn was strong on defense with 11 digs.
Kaodi Wokocha is a name to remember as we move forward in the 2025 season. The freshman posted 14 kills for Eastern in their sweep of Elizabethtown. RS Connor Tucholski added 10 kills and hit .714 for the match. Symir Byrd and Ronan Landis lifted 10 digs each for the Eagles.
SUNY New Paltz started up their season against D2 Menlo. Menlo had defeated UC Santa Cruz last week in 4 sets. The Hawks came up short tonight and were swept by the Oaks. Michael Speigel but down 9 kills for NP.
Anthony DePalma had 17 kills and 4 aces to lead Misericordia to a 3-2 win over Lancaster Bible. Anthony also provided 11 digs for the match. Jared Piontowski had 17 kills as well and Gannon Defrain posted 44 assists. Dawson Forney and Jaiden Flanagan combined for 40 kills for the Chargers and Zach Wyant had 51 assists.
Daniel Easly and Kyle Hoffman combined for 25 kills and Caden Mealy put up 34 assists as Penn State Behrend starts at 1-0 with the tightest 3-0 win over newly formed Grove City. The Wolverines played the Lions close with a two-point margin in every set. Luke Mumpower lifted 15 digs for the Lions. Lewis Rhodes had a great match and has a new favorite number as he had 4 blocks, 4 kills, and hit .444.
#9 Dominican visits #15 UC Santa Cruz Thursday night in prime time on the East Coast. Watch the game at this link at 8PM EST/5PM PST. UC Santa Cruz
