Husain and Kostikas HVMAC Volleyball All-Conference Selections, Wulff Coach of the Year
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – After finishing second in the regular season in the Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference (HVMAC) and recording a school-record seven wins, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's volleyball team has been honored with two All-Conference Team selections, junior Iqbal Husain (West Palm Beach, FL/Palm Beach Gardens) and freshman Taso Kostikas (Brooklyn, NY/Midwood). The conference also announced that head coach Kristin Wulff has been awarded the Coach of the Year as voted on by the conference head coaches.
Husain receives All-Conference honors for the first time in his career. The setter started all 21 matches and was the lynchpin of the offense as he led the team in assists dishing out 5.74 per set which places him third in the conference. The junior recorded two double-doubles on the season including a 33-assist, 10-dig performance at Webb along with a 25-assist, 10-dig output in St. Joseph's hard fought five-set loss to conference champion Yeshiva in the regular season. Husain set a new career-high and Bears single-game record with his 43 assists in St. Joseph's match in the HVMAC Tournament. The setter finished the season leading the Bears in assists in every match with double-digit assists in all but one game while recording 30 or more assists three times
Kostikas receives All-Conference honors after an impressive rookie campaign in which he started all 21 matches and won HVMAC Rookie of the Week twice while helping anchor the Bears defense by leading the team in digs, bringing up 2.21 per set which ranked him fourth in the conference. The freshman finished the season strong recording double-digit digs in four of the last five matches while also recording his first career double-double in St. Joseph's win at Webb finishing with a career-high ten kills, five service aces and ten digs. The outside hitter accumulated a career-high 16 digs in the Bears five-set loss to HVMAC Champion Yeshiva in the regular season. Kostikas led the team in digs a team-high seven times and had ten or more digs six times during the season.
Head coach Kristin Wulff has been named HVMAC Coach of the Year in her second year at the helm after leading the Bears to a school-record seven wins along with a program-best second place finish in the HVMAC regular season standings. The year before Wulff took over the reins of the team, St. Joseph's had a 0-18 record and had won a combined two matches over the first three years of the program's existence. However, since taking over in 2012 the Bears have shown tremendous improvement under the tutelage of Wulff as they won six matches in her first year before setting a school-record this season.