Men's Volleyball To Play 22-Match Slate to Open Skyline Era Under Dietz
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's volleyball team will enter the Skyline Conference in 2016 fresh off their most successful campaign in school history and with a new head coach. The Bears open play in two weeks on February 3 hosting Medgar Evers College in a Brooklyn battle at The Hill Center.
Coming off a 2015 season that saw the Bears finish 10-10 in the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the first 10-win and .500 season for the program, St. Joseph's was picked to finish seventh in their inaugural Skyline campaign as announced the preseason coaches' poll.
In November, Patrick Dietz was announced the third head men's volleyball coach in the history of the eight-year program. Dietz brings over 15 years of volleyball coaching experience at all levels and is no stranger to Brooklyn having just completed his first season as assistant women's volleyball coach at Division I St. Francis College Brooklyn. Also no stranger to the Skyline Conference, the Rockaway native led the College of Mount Saint Vincent men's volleyball team to national prominence from 2003-05, receiving top-15 rankings in all three seasons and rising as high as No. 11 in 2005.
Seeking their first winning season in program history, the Bears will look to take advantage of an early home-court advantage in their 22-game slate. Seven of their first eight matches, including their first four, are in the friendly confines of the beautiful, new Hill Center, where the Bears call home for the second season.
The campaign kicks off against CUNYAC foes Medgar Evers College (Feb. 3) and Brooklyn College (Feb. 8), the first of six non-conference games on the slate. The Bears will also continue rivalries with College of Staten Island (Mar. 16) and former HVIAC rivals Pratt Institute (Mar. 10-home & Mar. 30-away).
St. Joseph's opens Skyline play on February 14 against another former HVIAC rival Yeshiva University and New Jersey City University in a Valentine's Day tri-match in Brooklyn. The Bears will welcome preseason league favorite No. 11 Kean University and Sage Colleges to the Hill Center for another Skyline tri-match six days later, but then will be tested with 12 of their next 14 games on the road.
Rounding out the final three home games at the Hill Center are Purchase College (Mar. 6), Pratt Institute (Mar. 10) and Ramapo College (Apr. 3) in their regular season finale and Senior Night.
The Skyline Conference is comprised of nine men's volleyball schools playing a home-and-home league series—Kean, Ramapo, Mount Saint Vincent, New Jersey City, Sage, Purchase, Yeshiva and Sarah Lawrence.
The six-team, 2016 Skyline Conference Men's Volleyball Championship will commence with first-round play on April 6 with the champion crowned four days later, receiving the league's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship.