Wildcats Top NEAC Men’s Volleyball Preseason Poll

The SUNY Polytechnic Institute Wildcats will head into the 2016-17 season as the favorites after topping the coaches’ preseason poll.

The SUNY Polytechnic Institute Wildcats were chosen as the favorites heading into the 2016-17 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) men’s volleyball season after topping the coaches’ preseason poll rankings.

The Wildcats received four first-place votes and three second-place nods to top the charts with 58 total points.  SUNY Poly will see the return of six players and five starters from last year’s squad that claimed the NEAC Runner-Up title after making a run to the conference championship.  Leading the way will be a pair of 2015-16 NEAC All-Conference selections in junior setter Zach Goggin (Feeding Hills, Mass.) and senior middle blocker Nick Hagen (Hilton, N.Y.).  Goggin was a First Team selection after leading the conference in both assists (1,163) and assists per set (10.38) last season, while Hagen received Third Team honors after leading the NEAC in both block assists (86) and hitting percentage (.360).

They will be joined by the sophomore trio of Max Szuba (Irondequoit, N.Y.), Ryan Gloff (Brockport, N.Y.) and Brian Malsan (Slingerlands, N.Y.).  Szuba is coming off a 307-kill, 120-dig campaign for the Wildcats, while Gloff led the team and was third in the NEAC with 47 aces and Malsan appeared in all 31 matches as a libero, compiling 143 digs.  SUNY Poly head coach Dan Liberto also returns for this third season at the helm and will test his team with bouts against eight American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) top-15 squads from the final poll in 2016.

Penn State Altoona placed second in the poll after garnering two first-place votes and 54 points total.  The Nittany Lions will see six players return from last year’s tremendous season, where they posted a program-best record of 17-11 en route to making their first-ever NEAC Tournament appearance with a 12-4 conference mark.  Sophomores Billy Smith (Upper St. Clair, Pa.) and Bradley Colditz (Upper St. Clair, Pa.) both return following tremendous debut seasons for Altoona.  Smith, a setter, passed his way to the All-Conference Second Team after dishing out 950 assists last year, while Colditz was named the All-Conference Third Team after smacking 249 kills as an outside hitter. Senior outside hitter Jacob Byers (Level Green, Pa.) also returns, as do junior Justin Bannister (Willow Hill, Pa.) and sophomore Waldemar Rivera-Berrios (Toa Alta, P.R.) after both appeared in all 28 Nittany Lion matches last season.

Medaille College, the two-time defending NEAC champions, received three first-place votes and placed third overall with 51 points.  Mavericks head coach Keith Koch, the reigning NEAC Coach of the Year, enters his 13th season in charge after guiding last year’s squad to a perfect 16-0 conference record, while also recording a victory over nationally ranked Elmira en route to a second straight NEAC title.  Koch’s five returning players includes senior Calvin Crosby (Pendleton, N.Y.), who was second in the conference with 54 aces last season, as well as junior Sam Bloomberg (Lake Worth, Fla.), who was named last year’s NEAC Tournament MVP.  Sophomore Matt Dempsey (Clarence, N.Y.) also returns after appearing in all 34 Maverick contests as a freshman.

Keuka College placed fourth in the poll with 42 points.  A playoff team last year, the Wolves will be led by junior and 2015-16 NEAC All-Conference Third Team honoree Connor Gail (Euclid, Ohio) this season.  Both Wolves’ setters also return in senior Spencer Avery (Hamburg, N.Y.) and junior Chris Corcoran (Big Flats, N.Y.).  Wells College rounded out the poll’s top-five ranked teams after the Express tallied 32 points.  First-year head coach Mark Lucas inherits five returners from last season’s squad, including junior and NEAC All-Conference Second Team selection Brannon Perdicho (Victor, N.Y.).

The complete 2016-17 men’s volleyball preseason poll rankings can be found below:

The 2016-17 NEAC men’s volleyball season will officially began Friday, January 20, with the full season schedule being available on the NEAC website here.

The preseason poll rankings were conducted by the NEAC men’s volleyball coaches, with each coach ranking out all teams but their own using a staggered points system (eight points for a first-place vote, seven points for second, etc.).  No self-voting was allowed.  This is the second year the NEAC has held preseason polls and they will now become a staple of all 18 conference-sponsored sports moving forward.