WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's volleyball 2021 season is set to begin on Wednesday with a double round robin regular season scheduled within the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC). The season will run from February 24th through April 3rd followed by two flighted postseason tournaments including a championship and consolation brackets.

The Colonels 2020 season was cut short with a 10-9 overall record and at 1-3 in the MAC, as the team saw its final 12 matches canceled due to the pandemic. Head coach Joseph Czopek enters his fifth year at the helm of the program that started before the 2017 season.

"The team is excited to be scheduled back on the court for competitions this spring, and that has kept the energy high at practices," Czopek said. "As an extremely young team this season, we strive to be competitive in every match we play, and continue to develop stronger with every match or practice."

Nine of the 13 players on the roaster for 2021 will be underclassmen with six first-year players joining the team.

Wilkes returns two seniors in outside hitter Andrew Potter (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth) and defensive specialist Joseph Gayton (Wilkes-Barre, PA/James M. Coughlin).

"Both of our returning seniors are fourth year athletes," Czopek said. "Potter has stepped up to take a lead role and keep the team focused after both our captains didn't return back for spring semester. Gayton leads us vocally at practice, setting a great example of team communication for our younger players."

Potter enters as the program leader for career kills with 379 and is fourth with 262 digs and 79 blocks. He averaged 2.63 kills-per-set and 1.63 digs-per-set last season. His 3.24 points-per-set led the team and was second in the program record book for a single season. Gayton has 144 career digs including 105 last season when he averaged 2.02 per-set.

Two juniors return to the lineup in middle hitter Ethan Speicher (Midlothian, VA/Cosby) and opposite Everett Fritz (Ringtown, PA/Hazleton Area). Speicher holds the program record for single-season blocks with 79.0 during his freshman season in 2019. He is third on the all-time list at Wilkes with 105.0 career blocks and is seventh with 196 career kills. Fritz was tied for the team lead with 27.0 blocks in the shortened season last year and averaged 1.40 kills-per-set.

Sophomore setter Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) returns after a solid freshman season. He holds the program record for single-game assists with 47 which he recorded last year against Eastern on February 27th. His 8.27 assists-per-set were also a single-season program record.

"Shay has quickly earned the respect of his teammates and has taken charge of running our offense," Czopek said of the setter.

Fellow sophomore setter Casey Shipman (Hershey, PA/Hershey) also returns for the Colonels as well as sophomore outside hitter Zach Evans (Nescopeck, PA/Berwick). Evans enjoyed a successful freshman season as he led the Wilkes attack with 2.72 kills-per-set which ranks second in program history for a single season. His 2.93 points-per-set were second on the team behind Potter and third for a single-season at Wilkes.

Six first-year players join the fold for the Colonels in middle hitter Paul Binner (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock), middle hitter Matthew Molnar (South Abington Township, PA/Abington Heights), outside hitter Noah Taylor (Lumbertown, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional), outside hitter Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley), defensive specialist Adan Sandoval (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon), and defensive specialist Tyler Rushton (Nanticoke, PA/Nanticoke).

"With nearly 50 percent of the team being freshmen this year, learning our team culture of the program is important," Czopek commented. "The athletic abilities of this new group is good, and a few of them will have starting roles this spring."

The Colonels will play all eight MAC teams twice for a 16-game regular season. The action gets underway at the Marts Center with a single match against Alvernia on Wednesday, February 24 at 7:00 p.m. Wilkes will then travel to Stevens for a doubleheader on Saturday, February 27 starting at 1:00 p.m. All Wednesday competition during the season will be single matches while Saturday's will consist of doubleheaders.

"The MAC continues to be an extremely strong conference nationally, even in its early years as a conference, and this year is no exception," Czopek said. "The shortened 16-match schedule will be challenging, especially the back-to-back Saturday matches. Having a smaller roster, the Saturday back-to-back matches will be a sure test of our teams conditioning. The short season without early non-conference matches to work out the lineup will be interesting, but all we really want is to have the opportunity to play, and here we go."