HOBOKEN, N.J. (January 27, 2014) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team opens its 30-match slate for the 2014 season tomorrow night in its quest to return to the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship for the second consecutive season come late April.

Stevens, coming off a 25-10 campaign last year, is ranked No. 9 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 15 Preseason Poll and jumps right into United Volleyball Conference play tomorrow evening at No. 10 New York University at 7 p.m. to begin the season. Stevens defeated NYU last spring in straight-sets in the school's only matchup.

Head Coach Patrick Dorywalski now in his 28th overall season at Stevens, 25th as men's coach, prepared this year's group of student-athletes with a preseason trip to Luxembourg over the Winter Break. While the team was across the Atlantic Ocean, the Ducks squared off against three international teams – Luxembourg, Germany and France – which will surely gear Stevens up for grueling a schedule that boasts 12 of the top 15 schools in the country and a pair of Division I institutions. The Ducks also play in arguably the toughest conference in DIII, the 12-team UVC, which added Massachusetts Institute of Technology this season – ranked No. 12 in the preseason poll.

Dorywalski also added Simon Loftus back (coached at Stevens in 2003) to his coaching staff after Loftus spent the last decade coaching various teams in the United Kingdom. Loftus put together a decorated coaching career in the UK at the national and club levels. He led the Scottish Men's National Team to its first-ever championship in 2012 and was an assistant on the Great Britain Summer Olympics Team that same summer. From 2007-12, Loftus guided the Leeds Metropolitan University men's and women's teams to a combined 11 championships.

Stevens and the City of Hoboken were also selected as the host site for the 2015 NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball National Championship this offseason. Next year's national championship runs from April 24-26 and will feature eight teams from across the country.

"The 2014 season will be a great opportunity for some young players to see a lot of court time since there are no seniors on the team," said Dorywalski. "Some of last year's non-starters, along with newcomers, have shown that they are more than up to the challenge and will look to show the depth of our roster."

This year's team will be led by junior setter Kevin Aeckerle (Henrietta, N.Y.) who was named a captain for the upcoming spring. Aeckerle was selected as Off the Block/Springbak Division III Preseason All-American and is a two-time honorable mention All-UVC performer. He ranked third in the conference last season with 1,090 assists in 109 sets played and currently ranks fourth all-time in Stevens history with 2,079.

Juniors Daniel Smith (Tucson, Ariz.) and Ryan Brandow (Manorville, N.Y.), along with sophomore Alexander Carpenter (Delaware, Ohio), and freshman Jordan Stuart (Huntington Beach, Calif.) will all look to compete for time in the middle of the net.

Sophomore Chris Vaughan (Medford, N.J.) will make the transition from libero to outside hitter this spring and will be joined by freshman Gabe Shankweiler (Allentown, Pa.) at that position. Vaughan played in a team-high 120 sets last season with 241 digs, 36 kills and 17 assists.

Three sophomores will alternate as opposite hitters in John Eddins (Kula, Hawaii), Derrick Sokol (Newbury Park, Calif.) and Thomas Wright (La Mesa, Calif.). Eddins mainly saw action last year as a setter and dished out 152 assists with 18 kills, while Sokol and Wright played in five sets apiece in 2013.

Rounding out this year's roster, junior Dylan Schlosser (Emmaus, Pa.), sophomore Ayal Ciobotaru (Cedarhurst, N.Y.) and freshman Scott Russell (Newport Beach, Calif.) will all split time at the defensive specialist and setter positions.

The Ducks will be home for the first time in 2014 for a tri-match on February 1 against Eastern Mennonite University and DI Sacred Heart University. Three days later, Stevens will take on another DI school in New Jersey Institute of Technology before hitting the road for the first UVC Crossover at MIT on February 8-9.

Over the final 13 days of February, Stevens will take on five nationally ranked opponents in an eight-match span. The Ducks will take on No. 11 Stevenson University twice on February 15 and 21, fourth-ranked SUNY New Paltz on the 19th, No. 8 Rivier University on the 22nd and No. 3 Juniata College on the 28th. The first Stevenson match and Juniata contest will be played in Canavan Arena.

Stevens opens March with a non-conference match against Dominican University on the 4th and then travels to Elmira College for the second conference crossover on the 8th and 9th. The Ducks square off with national runner-up and No. 2 Nazareth College to kick-off the second day of competition and conclude the two-day event against No. 14 Elmira.

On March 22 and 23, Stevens hosts a quad against 12th-ranked MIT for a UVC contest, No. 5 Baruch College and New Jersey City University.

The final seven matches of the season will all be played on the road before the UVC Tournament takes place on April 12 and 13. After matches against Ramapo College, Eastern Mennonite and Cairn University, the Ducks will head to Springfield College for a tournament on April 4 and 5. Stevens faces two-time defending champion, No. 1 Springfield, at 5 p.m. on the 4th to start the tournament and then squares off with Marymount University, Medaille and Endicott College.

All Stevens home matches throughout the season will be available via live stats and a majority can be viewed on Empire8.tv via webcast.

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