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D3 in 2015
Jul 17, 2014 11:06:15 GMT -5
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Post by TheReignman on Jul 17, 2014 11:06:15 GMT -5
In the dead of summer night I find myself lying awake in my living quarters bothered by the same single question that I can't seem to answer. Who will be the first team to unseat Springfield men's volleyball as national champions. I'm not saying that it is certain to happen this year, because Coach Sullivan has created a winning culture where each team reloads rather than rebuilds, and it is entirely possible that the upcoming season will culminate with a 4th consecutive NCAA championship for the Pride. But someone will knock them out of the winners circle at one time or another, so I would like to examine some of the best candidates to do so this year.
Juniata- returning 6 of 7 starters ( 5 depending on how you figure in Ross Madden) losing 2nd team AA right side Alex McColgin. Not an easy player to replace but a school such as Juniata has a myriad of talent on bench waiting for a chance to shine. Bigger adjustment will be new head coach Pat Shawaryn taking on the full time gig. But his familiarity with the program along with experience from last year should provide useful in his first full year at the helm. Junior setter Matt Elias returns with a lot of fire power lead by CVC PoY and First Team AA Paul Kuhn and his two AA middles Joe Bortak (a three time selection) and Chad Albert.
SUNY New Paltz- returning 5 of 7 starters losing libero Victor Tuminelli and OH Brian Smith. I believe Smith to be bigger loss than most may think as he was a team leader with much experience and a large part of winning tradition that has been built at the school in last 4 years along with serving as linchpin of the teams defense from a center back position that he played very well. Much like Juniata the Hawks return plenty of offensive firepower. Lead by junior OH Tim Ferriter (two time AA selection) who is joined by AA sophomore MB Steve Woessner (who sported a great mustache throughout NCAA tournament). One of the few nationally renowned programs to run a 6-2 ( albeit a hybrid one) they return both of the engines of their offense in junior AA setter/RS Christian Smith and senior setter/RS Jon Lutjen.
Stevens Tech- the most intriguing of the three teams I am previewing. Stevens Tech has the potential to return a whole lot more than any other team can offer. Already returning all starters from last year, it is rumored that former players such as David Evans (2012 AA) and Ian Tyger (2012 UVC Newcomer of Year) will be returning from their season long sabbatical last year. In addition to those players Stevens Tech will return three AA hitters from the 2014 selections on OH Chris Vaughn, OH Gabe Shankweiler, and MB Daniel Smith. Senior setter Kevin Ackerle returns to run the show with occasional assistance from Junior S/RS John Eddins. Serving as the host for the 2015 NCAA tournament won't hurt their chances either.
Other pending questions:
What happens to Elmira and Carthage with the graduation of program defining setters Vellutato and Wexter?
Can Baruch return to it's final four form after a disappointing season coupled with the departure of Jack McKee?
Can upstart program Kean follow up on an impressive year and continue to push itself into the conversation as a national power?
Will Naz prove that last year was a fluke or will it be shown the Wells-Spicer was an integral part of the programs storied success?
Can programs such as Stevenson and Elmira make the final push and either win their conference or receive an at large bid to the national tournament?
Will Rivier recapture their early season form from last year and be a serious final four contender?
Can Endicott continue its magical late season run, including upset of MIT in NCAA tournament to start 2015 season?
How will new Midwest conference (operating without Automatic Bid) affect NCAA tournament's selection process with traditional power Carthage and upstart Lakeland without an auto bid to receive?
Will D3 newcomer Rutgers-Newark shake up CVC field in Mid-Atlantic region?
Regardless I hope all are half as excited as I am for the 2015 season to start in January.
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Post by volleyball20102011 on Jul 17, 2014 12:54:41 GMT -5
It's confirmed that Ferriter will be transferring to Stevens this year (academic reasons). IMO they have the players and potential to be the team to upset Springfield. Biggest thing that could hold them back is the coaching there.
Naz has a nice incoming class and could potentially put it together.
New Paltz has a few interesting incoming freshman as well that could make them a UVC contender (potentially a national contender but too early to tell)
Juniata should be up there with Stevens as 2nd and 3rd best teams coming into 2015. Has some monster guys. Will they learn to pass and play defense?
I'd throw in Carthage and Rivier as teams who could compete.
Outside looking in/up and coming teams: Lakeland, Santa Cruz, Rutgers-Newark.
Will be an interesting year. Springfield has to the team to beat without question. Looking forward to seeing rosters come out and some November/December pre-season tournies
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Post by noreaster on Jul 17, 2014 18:35:51 GMT -5
So Ferriter is going? I heard there was a snag in early May and haven't heard since.
Middlehitter lists nobody committed to Naz so who do they have? Specifically, who is going to set?
Vega and Pieper played for the IREVA team in the Premier League at the US Open, which is for professionals who are done with school. If they are done with Springfield, in addition to the losses of Ferry, O'Leary, Malone and Lilly, well, that would leave a lot of questions, and other than Zuvich and Rubio we don't really know the answers.
I'd say Elmira has moved from being a good team to a good program and certainly Carthage has done the same, but we saw what happened to Naz with the loss of an experienced, stand out setter. Seeing that means you really have to question both, as well as NYU (who's OH's I think make them a team to watch).
CVC will be a war. Juniata, Stevenson, Marymount...heck, Thiel has 8 seniors so if they ever higher a new coach they could make some noise. Rutgers isn't impressive but they were 7-1 vs D3 with wins over Kean and NYU last year.
Riv's defense should take a hit with both 6'7" middles and their stand out libero graduating (I think). While the roster shows another libero, it doesn't show any other middles on the team. Markuson is really good and Blank had a good first year. With a coaching change at Emmanuel, I think the team to watch is Wentworth, but its probably still Riv's to lose, no matter who the middles are.
Endicott had 7 seniors on the roster, including I think 5 who were starters. Bacon's a good setter and Osbourne is still their workhorse but they have a number of questions to answer. Daniel Webster only graduates their L1, but in 4 matches last year Endicott won by a set score of 12-3 so while I'm not sure Endicott is ready for primetime they should still be class of the NECC.
I think the interesting question is what will Baruch be? They lose Coniglio and McKee. Nick Smith should be back, right? With Kaimis and Malo? And that's enough to win in the CUNYAC. That said, Baruch's schedule is up and with Staten Island joining the conference they lose 2 play opportunities. They have Vassar, Ramapo, Rutgers and NYU, with possibly none of them ranked. We don't know what the Elmira tournament looks like yet, but at this point, with Juniata, Stevens, Springfield and New Paltz all on the road, if they don't beat Kean at home they may not have a ranked win on the season.
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Post by VolleyLife on Jul 18, 2014 1:37:36 GMT -5
Vega and Pieper are both playing this year. Springfield's biggest problems this year is in the MB2 and Libero spots. But knowing Springfield they'll find a way to work with what they have. Definitely should be a fun year in D3 volleyball.
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Post by BroNamath on Jul 18, 2014 8:44:09 GMT -5
Finally decided to make an account on here and I am glad to see someone started a 2015 thread. If Ferriter is confirmed to be at Stevens then they have my vote as the team to watch. He is a great player going to a team that made the tournament without some of their studs that they are also bringing back. That being said as long as Sullivan is in the drivers seat of the Springfield team they will always be the front runners for me (not saying they are unbeatable, look at riv and np last year). They will be tough and always be a contender. Juniata returns a ton of experience and firepower on offense coupled with their tradition of always being a strong blocking team. The question for them will be defense, passing, and being able to perform when they need to the most. It will be a fun year to watch after many teams got better last year (even though the final was the same two teams who usually win the natty) looking forward to some exciting volleyball.
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Post by BroNamath on Jul 18, 2014 9:51:30 GMT -5
Vega and Pieper are both playing this year. Springfield's biggest problems this year is in the MB2 and Libero spots. But knowing Springfield they'll find a way to work with what they have. Definitely should be a fun year in D3 volleyball. I agree those will be the 2 spots where they will have the most struggles, but remember that the backup middle, Ermi, was the starter behind O'Leary for the first half of the season then Peterson took the spot. They will both have playing experience and with the coaching of Sullivan and D'Amore (former UCI middle) they will get better throughout the whole season. They don't have Ferry anymore which is big because he made plays that other teams can hardly think about making, but some of their backups could have easily started on some other teams in the past years but didn't with Springfield because Ferry was on a different level.
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Post by CityTechLegend on Jul 18, 2014 19:52:58 GMT -5
I think the interesting question is what will Baruch be? They lose Coniglio and McKee. Nick Smith should be back, right? With Kaimis and Malo? And that's enough to win in the CUNYAC. That said, Baruch's schedule is up and with Staten Island joining the conference they lose 2 play opportunities. They have Vassar, Ramapo, Rutgers and NYU, with possibly none of them ranked. We don't know what the Elmira tournament looks like yet, but at this point, with Juniata, Stevens, Springfield and New Paltz all on the road, if they don't beat Kean at home they may not have a ranked win on the season. I loved everything you said there, except one thing: College of Staten Island is NOT adding men's volleyball anytime soon. They once had plans to do so, however, the campus is under going reconstructions and they have "maybe" pushed back the idea of adding on a new sport to la later time. CSI has always been a CUNYAC member and have competed on the women's in all sports for many years. That is the ONLY correction. Great post!!!!
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Post by noreaster on Jul 18, 2014 21:37:22 GMT -5
I think the interesting question is what will Baruch be? They lose Coniglio and McKee. Nick Smith should be back, right? With Kaimis and Malo? And that's enough to win in the CUNYAC. That said, Baruch's schedule is up and with Staten Island joining the conference they lose 2 play opportunities. They have Vassar, Ramapo, Rutgers and NYU, with possibly none of them ranked. We don't know what the Elmira tournament looks like yet, but at this point, with Juniata, Stevens, Springfield and New Paltz all on the road, if they don't beat Kean at home they may not have a ranked win on the season. I loved everything you said there, except one thing: College of Staten Island is NOT adding men's volleyball anytime soon. They once had plans to do so, however, the campus is under going reconstructions and they have "maybe" pushed back the idea of adding on a new sport to la later time. CSI has always been a CUNYAC member and have competed on the women's in all sports for many years. That is the ONLY correction. Great post!!!! Staten Island adding seemed odd, but I was going off of Baruch's 2015 schedule. athletics.baruch.cuny.edu/schedule.aspx?path=mvolley&schedule=188&On Feb 7 and 19 the Baruch Schedule says (at the moment) that they are playing CSI.
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nkdvr
Sophomore
Posts: 196
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Post by nkdvr on Jul 23, 2014 9:20:14 GMT -5
I have CSI on my competition schedule also... do you know something that we don't know?
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Post by CityTechLegend on Jul 24, 2014 9:10:11 GMT -5
I loved everything you said there, except one thing: College of Staten Island is NOT adding men's volleyball anytime soon. They once had plans to do so, however, the campus is under going reconstructions and they have "maybe" pushed back the idea of adding on a new sport to la later time. CSI has always been a CUNYAC member and have competed on the women's in all sports for many years. That is the ONLY correction. Great post!!!! Staten Island adding seemed odd, but I was going off of Baruch's 2015 schedule. athletics.baruch.cuny.edu/schedule.aspx?path=mvolley&schedule=188&On Feb 7 and 19 the Baruch Schedule says (at the moment) that they are playing CSI. I will double check with my contacts at CUNYAC, however, no one mentioned it to me at the last CUNYAC Men's Championships. I do the broadcast every year and speak with the Conference Commissioner every time. He didn't mention anything to us (the broadcast team) about CSI adding men's volleyball. This would have made major news in CUNY, since they have been trying to get CSI to add men's volleyball for years. A couple of questions need to answered: A) Who is their coach? B) Why has there been no information about the team - ANYWHERE, not even on CSI's athletics page. Unless it is still considered a club team, there is no listing of a MVB program on the CSI page. Again, I could be wrong - and if so, I apologize. Chances are this was held under the radar for a reason. There were many rumors that CSI was looking to go DII at one point, adding MVB would have made that difficult. I will check and get back to you all.
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Post by CityTechLegend on Jul 24, 2014 9:22:29 GMT -5
I will double check with my contacts at CUNYAC, however, no one mentioned it to me at the last CUNYAC Men's Championships. I do the broadcast every year and speak with the Conference Commissioner every time. He didn't mention anything to us (the broadcast team) about CSI adding men's volleyball. This would have made major news in CUNY, since they have been trying to get CSI to add men's volleyball for years. A couple of questions need to answered: A) Who is their coach? B) Why has there been no information about the team - ANYWHERE, not even on CSI's athletics page. Unless it is still considered a club team, there is no listing of a MVB program on the CSI page. Again, I could be wrong - and if so, I apologize. Chances are this was held under the radar for a reason. There were many rumors that CSI was looking to go DII at one point, adding MVB would have made that difficult. I will check and get back to you all. SPECIAL NOTE: CSI does have a JOBS listing on their athletics page for an Assistant MEN'S and Women's Volleyball Coach. SO it is highly possible they are starting a program, yet haven't publicized it AT ALL! "Curiouser and curiouser (we go) down the rabbit hole..."
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Post by BroNamath on Jul 24, 2014 10:37:46 GMT -5
Is there any way that Hunter could take the CUNY? I know Baruch is always the favorite, but they lose one of the better opposites in D3 last year (in my opinion) with McKee. He will be difficult to replace because he had such a huge impact on that team. Coniglio was talented but I believe replaceable. I do not know much about Hunter but they have had success in the past. If not Hunter then I believe no other team can win that conference, there is just too much of a gap between those 2 teams and the rest of the field.
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Post by CityTechLegend on Jul 26, 2014 6:53:01 GMT -5
I will double check with my contacts at CUNYAC, however, no one mentioned it to me at the last CUNYAC Men's Championships. I do the broadcast every year and speak with the Conference Commissioner every time. He didn't mention anything to us (the broadcast team) about CSI adding men's volleyball. This would have made major news in CUNY, since they have been trying to get CSI to add men's volleyball for years. A couple of questions need to answered: A) Who is their coach? B) Why has there been no information about the team - ANYWHERE, not even on CSI's athletics page. Unless it is still considered a club team, there is no listing of a MVB program on the CSI page. Again, I could be wrong - and if so, I apologize. Chances are this was held under the radar for a reason. There were many rumors that CSI was looking to go DII at one point, adding MVB would have made that difficult. I will check and get back to you all. SPECIAL NOTE: CSI does have a JOBS listing on their athletics page for an Assistant MEN'S and Women's Volleyball Coach. SO it is highly possible they are starting a program, yet haven't publicized it AT ALL! "Curiouser and curiouser (we go) down the rabbit hole..." Confirmed.....apparently! (note: I put "apparently" only because there are NO ARTICLES ANYWHERE that even HINTS at this being true. Yet, if a coach in CUNY says its happening and that team is on a CUNYAC team schedule, well, it must be true) College of Staten Island IS adding men's volleyball for the 2015 season. As it stands the current women's coach will coach the men as well. A close friend and current CUNY coach confirmed to me Thursday when we talked. Not sure if this will cause any IMMEDIATE issues in the CUNYAC, however CSI does have a history of recruiting well locally (meaning Staten Island) and parts of New Jersey. So, we could say CSI could contend for the CUNY Championships, but lets be real; the CUNYAC Title looks like this (not that anyone really worries about CUNY outside of the TOP TWO teams...BARUCH and HUNTER 1) Baruch 2) Hunter 3) Brooklyn 4) York (maybe) 5) CCNY (maybe) 6) John Jay (maybe) 7) Lehman (maybe) 8) CSI (possible) 9) Medgar Evers The reality is this: Baruch will start the season solid, maybe a few losses here and there, but they are the class of CUNY. Hunter will be the next best contender, solid returning squad with a possible deep bench, maybe even deeper than Baruch's. Brooklyn made a major run last season and has the pieces to be a winner, minus a few key positions, they look good. York graduates their two top players, a Middle and BANGER opposite, however they keep a 6'5 OH and a SOLID setter (who will be a junior). From this point on its a crap shoot! Who will be #4 in conference that people ONLY look at the top two? I've devoted a lot of time to this because of my affiliation with CUNY. I'd like to see CUNY be a high ranking competitor again, as it was in the late 80's, early 90's and part of the new millennia. With the new breed of coach coming into CUNY, that WANT to recruit, it shouldn't take long.
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Post by bbk on Jul 31, 2014 11:54:31 GMT -5
Most teams do not publish their lists so not many people are aware that Ferry (Springfield) has been replaced by a pretty good Libero from PR. Irizarry. Reload is what Champions do.
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Post by darian on Jul 31, 2014 12:37:41 GMT -5
I know nothing about D3, but I've noticed NYU got some good recruits. How will they do?
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