NJAC TITLE ON THE LINE
Wednesday, March 18, 2026 | 7:00 PM | Newark, NJ
CVC Match | NJAC Match | Live Stream Available
When two of New Jersey’s most decorated Division III men’s volleyball programs share a court, the result is rarely quiet. Wednesday night in Newark, Kean University and Rutgers-Newark will collide in a match that carries every bit of weight a regular-season contest can carry. An NJAC championship, a postseason seeding, and years of program pride are all on the line. If you have any connection to volleyball in New Jersey, this is the match you circle on the calendar.
The stakes are unambiguous. A Kean victory coupled with win vs Ramapo, clinches the NJAC regular-season title outright, the program’s first conference crown under head coach Bez Arslani. Rutgers-Newark controls its own destiny with a similar path: win Wednesday and then win at NJCU to claim a sixth consecutive NJAC championship. If the Scarlet Raiders win tonight but fall at NJCU, tiebreaker rules will determine the champion. In other words, every serve, every kill, every dig on Wednesday carries championship-level consequence.
A Rivalry Built in New Jersey Gyms
This rivalry needs no introduction to anyone who follows the sport in the Garden State, but the numbers help frame it. Both programs have spent the 2026 season inside the InsideHitter.com top 20, a dual-ranking that underscores just how far New Jersey’s D3 volleyball has risen on the national stage. Rutgers-Newark entered 2026 as the unanimous NJAC preseason favorite, seeking a historic sixth straight title. Kean entered with a chip on its shoulder and a senior-heavy roster that Arslani called “polished, experienced, and battle tested” in January.
Both programs have a long history of producing nationally recognized players and postseason runs. Their NJAC meetings in recent seasons have routinely been decided by the finest of margins. Last March, the two met in an NJAC Championship match at Kean, with Rutgers-Newark winning 3-1 in a battle that saw lead changes pile up like spike attempts at a serve-receive clinic. The Cougars have not forgotten.
Kean’s Case: Mitchell, Quinn, and a Season That Means Everything
Kean enters at 14-7 overall and 1-0 in NJAC play, fresh off a gutsy five-set road win at UC Santa Cruz that has the program buzzing. Senior outside hitter Chris Mitchell is the engine of this offense. He leads the team with 301 kills on a .290 hitting percentage and has been a first-team All-NJAC caliber performer all season. In Kean’s lone conference win against NJCU, Mitchell was dominant, posting 24 kills on a .524 hitting percentage in four sets. That kind of production in pressure situations is what separates him.
Junior libero Tyler Quinn is the defensive spine of this team and the best defensive player in the NJAC by a margin that borders on unfair. A two-time NJAC Defensive Player of the Year, Quinn has logged 264 digs through 21 matches and leads the conference in digs per set at 3.30, nearly a full dig per set ahead of his nearest pursuer. Rutgers-Newark will test every ball-handling system Kean has built. Quinn will be the one keeping those tests from becoming disasters.
Senior middle blocker Danny Pugliano adds another dimension with a .332 hitting percentage and 161 kills, making him one of the most efficient attackers on either roster. And freshman middle blocker Caden Krzyzak has been one of the best stories in the NJAC, producing 68 total blocks in his debut season and flashing the kind of ceiling that opponents at the net have learned to respect quickly.
Rutgers-Newark’s Case: A Dynasty That Refuses to Yield
The Scarlet Raiders have won five consecutive NJAC championships and come into Wednesday with the talent to make it six. Junior opposite hitter Aleks Kolodziej is their most dangerous weapon, a player who went off for 18 kills on a .531 hitting percentage against top-15 New Paltz and followed that with a 13-kill, 13-dig performance in an upset of No. 2 Stevens. He ranks fifth in the NJAC in kills per set and carries a .288 hitting percentage with the ball-control instincts of someone who belongs in every big-match conversation.
Sophomore outside hitter Massimo Roco arrived last year as a freshman and immediately earned All-Conference honors. Now in his second season, he gives Rutgers-Newark a second consistent scoring threat that forces opponents to choose which fire to fight first. Freshman setter Duncan Sturt has been a revelation, winning NJAC Rookie of the Week honors five times in the season’s first six weeks and averaging over 11 assists per set while committing virtually no errors. A freshman setter dictating that kind of pace speaks to either elite talent, ideal coaching, or both.
Freshman middle blocker Adrian Marke has also made an impact, ranking second in the NJAC in blocks per set at 1.05 and posting a .351 hitting percentage in his debut season. For a program that built its dynasty on depth and system continuity under head coach Aidan Albrecht, the pipeline remains active and flowing.
The Coaching Matchup: Arslani’s Mission vs. Albrecht’s Machine
Arslani knows this court better than almost anyone. Kean’s inaugural First-Team All-American in 2015, a two-time All-Skyline Conference Player of the Year, and a former professional player in the NVA with Team Freedom, he now coaches with the same urgency he played with. His philosophy, to play every point like it is the last time you will ever take the court, has shaped a senior class that understands exactly what Wednesday represents. In his fourth full season at the helm, an NJAC title would validate a rebuild that has been building toward precisely this moment.
Albrecht, a recent AVCA Thirty Under 30 honoree, has engineered one of the most consistent championship runs in the NJAC’s recent history. His program culture and player development have kept Rutgers-Newark at the top of the conference even as rosters turn over. The Scarlet Raiders do not rebuild; they reload. Wednesday will test whether Arslani’s fire can overcome Albrecht’s system.
Key Matchup to Watch
The central battle will be Mitchell against whatever Rutgers-Newark’s block throws at him. Kolodziej and Marke form a formidable wall, and Sturt will put them in position to do damage. But Quinn’s presence in the back row gives Kean a safety net that few programs in D3 can match. If the Cougars can keep the ball alive long enough for Mitchell and Pugliano to find seams, Rutgers-Newark will have a long night. If Kolodziej gets hot and Sturt orchestrates the offense the way he has all season, the Scarlet Raiders will be making history in their own gym.
A Message to New Jersey High Schools
If you coach or play volleyball at the high school level in New Jersey, Wednesday night’s match is something you should make the trip for. This is not a scrimmage. This is not a mid-week practice match. This is two of the best Division III programs in the country, both ranked nationally, playing for a conference championship with postseason implications attached. The level of play, the defensive sophistication, the offensive systems, and the competitive intensity are all things that high school players rarely see up close until they are actually in college. Bring your team. Bring your players. Let them watch what the sport looks like at its highest level outside the professional ranks.
Both Kean and Rutgers-Newark are programs that have developed and recruited heavily from the New Jersey club and high school pipeline. Players at both schools came up through gyms exactly like the ones your athletes train in right now. If watching Tyler Quinn track down a ball or Chris Mitchell terminate a rally at match point does not inspire someone on your bench, nothing will.
Watch Live
Can’t make it to Newark in person? The match will be available via live stream through Rutgers-Newark Athletics. Check rutgersnewarkathletics.com for the broadcast link and live stats. For those who follow D3 volleyball seriously, this is a must-watch Wednesday night.
Wednesday, 7:00 PM. Newark, NJ. NJAC championship volleyball. Be there.
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