WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's volleyball team is ready to kick off the 2023 season. The 2022 team of Colonels finished 9-22 overall and 1-12 in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) play under Joseph Czopek, entering his seventh season as head coach after opening the program's inaugural season in 2017.
 
When asked about his expectations for the season, Czopek mentioned they are, "Very fortunate this year we bring back captains Paul Binner (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock) and Zach Shay (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) and their leadership is not only on the court, it takes outside the gym and really they lead by example." He continued to mention that, "Their work ethic is contagious, and a positive attitude is just helping this team grow." He also went on to say that, "we have the fortune of having Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) aboard with us right through preseason this year, not acquiring him midway through the season, we think that should help our offense kick up a notch."
 
The Colonels roster is a fairly even mix of veterans and newcomers, with eight of the 14 being upperclassmen. Of the eight upperclassmen, Shay and Casey Shipman (Hershey, PA/Hershey) make up the seniors, both of them setters. Shay has earned 206 digs, 63 kills, and leads the Colonels in assists with 919 in his first three seasons in the Navy and Gold. Shipman has 203 digs, 25 kills, and 480 assists.
 
There are six juniors taking the court for the Colonels in 2023. Binner, Noah Taylor (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional), Shafer and newcomer Logan Evanosky (Dallas, PA/Dallas) make up the hitters of the juniors. Matthew Molnar (South Abington Township, PA/Abington Heights) is the only junior opposite for the team, and Adan Sandoval (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon) is one of two liberoes that make up the team. Binner has racked up 234 kills, Taylor has 176, Shafer has 117, and libero Sandoval has 131 digs.
 
Four of the players who return for the Colonels are sophomores. Lucas Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) is an outside hitter, Jacob Mages (Buffalo, NY/Iroquois Central) is a middle hitter, Jake Sheldon (Mountain Top, PA/Crestwood) is a defensive specialist, and newcomer Jacob Haller (Birdsboro, PA/Exeter Township) is an opposite. After their first season for Wilkes, L. Mages has earned 113 kills with 29 service aces, J. Mages has 41 kills and 20 service aces, and Sheldon has 31 digs.
 
Wilkes brings on two first year players, Sam Winter (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Huntington Central) who is a libero and Alex Derk (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge) who is a defensive specialist. When asked about the freshmen, Czopek stated that the players came from, "very successful high school programs they played some good club ball," and went on to say that, "they should kick our defense up as they're defensive specialists and increase our serve receive which is a big difference."
 
Czopek stated that, "The MAC conference as a whole is very strong, one of the top conferences in the nation," and when asked about their non-conference schedule said, "We have some challenging teams that will help us to continue to build throughout the season to play in that MAC conference." 
 
The Colonels open their season on Wednesday when they travel to Riverdale, N.Y. to take on the College of Mount Saint Vincent at 7:00 p.m. for a non-conference match. They will kick off MAC play with a trimatch on February 9^th where they host Widener University at 4:00 p.m. and Arcadia University at 8:00 p.m.