2015 AVCA Preseason Division III Men's Volleyball Poll

HAMBURG, N.Y. - The 2015 men's volleyball team travels this weekend for their opening weekend tournament at Juniata College located in Huntingdon, Pa.  All tournament games will have live-steaming video and live in-game statistics available.

Juniata was recently announced as the #1 ranked team by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) just as the Division III men's volleyball season begins.  The Eagles went 29-5 last season and lost in the National Division III Championship game to Springfield College.  Juniata returns five starters from a season in which they won their second consecutive Continental Volleyball Conference title.

Hilbert, under the direction of first-year head coach, Christopher Krueger, will square-off against the host school at 3pm on January 23rd before they rise and grind the next morning to play against Thiel College (9 am).  The Hawks close-out the tourney in a 3pm match vs. Hunter College.

Stay current by linking to the tournament webpage (here). 

*** This year, the men's volleyball team has joined the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) as an associate member.  The league is comprised of eight institutions (D'Youville, Hilbert, Keuka, Lancaster Bible, Medaille, Penn State Altoona, SUNY Poly (formally SUNYIT) and Wells. The NEAC tournament champion receives the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III National Championship tournament in late April.

The men's volleyball program, by vurtue of Hilbert College's athletic program's full membership in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) will also compete for an AMCC Championship title, although no tournament will physically take place.  The Hawks will play D'Youville College, Medaille College and Penn State Altoona twice thorought the NEAC schedule but will also compete against Penn State Behrend in a two-game non-conference series.  The team with the best record within the five AMCC institutions will be crowned as the AMCC Champion and those points will be tallied into the AMCC President's Cup score.

*** Based on the 2015 AVCA Preseason Poll, Hilbert will compete against five of the Top 15 ranked teams: #1 Juniata, #9 Nazareth, #11 NYU, #14 Stevenson and #15 Medaille.  Read the release posted above.