Men's Volleyball To Play 11-Game Home Slate At The Hill Center; Preval Returns As Assistant Coach
BROOKLYN, N.Y.—The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's volleyball team looks to build upon their most successful season in program history opening up their 2015 campaign with their inaugural home matchup at the Hill Center against Medgar Evers on January 30th.
The Bears concluded last season with a school-record eight wins under Head Coach Kristin Wulff and finishing second in the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Conference with a 4-2 conference record, eventually falling to Yeshiva University in the HVIAC championship game—their first in program history.
Wulff, who has compiled 21 wins and improved on the team's win total in all three years at the helm, returns for her fourth season and will be joined by a familiar face as Randy Preval rejoins the squad for his second season assistant coach after a one-year hiatus playing professional volleyball in Europe—for Vero Volley a Serie A club team in Italy—and training with some of the sport's top teams, including USA Volleyball. Also returning to the sidelines for his second season is Martin Torres.
St. Joseph's will christen their inaugural season in The Hill Center with a loaded 11-game home slate and look for early success with five of the first six matches taking place in their new home. This includes facing CUNYAC foes York (N.Y.) (Feb. 3), Brooklyn College (Feb. 11), John Jay (Feb. 23), while also taking future Skyline opponent Sarah Lawrence (Feb. 18).
The team closes out the month of February with two straight road tests against borough rivals Medgar Evers (Feb. 24) and Pratt Institute (Feb. 26) to open league play. The Bears embark on six HVIAC games in their final season in the conference playing two games each against Webb Institute, the Pratt Institute and defending champion Yeshiva.
March starts off for the team with a tough three-game home stretch, taking on Staten Island (Mar. 9), Purchase (Mar. 12) and Yeshiva (Mar. 17)—seeking their first victory in program history against all three of these opponents. In the second half of March, they will close with three conference matchups including a road match against Yeshiva.
Regular season play concludes in April with two matches, a road matchup against Sarah Lawrence and concludes with Senior Night at the Hill Center against Webb Institute on April 7th.
The season ends on April 15 with the Bears seeking a repeat appearance in the HVIAC title game, this year's HVIAC Tournament returning to Yeshiva University.