The AMCC is proud to recognize nine teams for earning the highest collective grade point average in their peer sports as winners of the Team Peak Performer Awards.
Hilbert College outside hitter Adam Weaver Medaille College right side hitter Trevor Barrett are shining on the national stage with the announcement that the pair has been named to the AVCA Men's Volleyball All-America Team.
The Penn State Behrend men's volleyball team received its first-ever postseason bid to the 2014 ECAC Division III Championships after finishing the regular season with a 15-9 record.
Stevenson University secured the top seed and will host the four-team tournament. The Lions are the third seed and will face No. 2 Wentworth on Saturday afternoon in the semifinals, beginning at 1 p.m. The winner will advance to the championships on Saturday at 3 p.m. to face the winner of No. 1 Stevenson and No. 4 Hunter.
Behrend posted its first winning season since volleyball became a varsity sport in 2011. The Lions finished 5-6 in the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) to earn the seventh-seed in the conference tournament last weekend at Nazareth. Behrend fell to No. 2 New Paltz State 3-0 in the quarterfinals. They were the runners up in the AMCC regular season standings with a 6-2 record.
Weaver continued his dominating play for the Hawks in a week of conference play. The senior led to a sweep of his AMCC opponents with 6.43 kills/set (45 in total) and a hitting rate of .352. Weaver added 3 assists, 1 ace, 18 digs, and 7 blocks to his performance to rack up 50.5 points while committing just 13 errors. He continues to lead Division III in kills/set and is a contender for the points/set title as well. Weaver continues to lead the AMCC in kills/set (5.03) and kills (609).
Weaver had a career-high senior day performance to cap off his most productive week this season. The senior tallied 25 kills (6.25/set) in the Hawks' 3-1 loss to Elmira, 13 kills (3.25/set) in a loss to the #1 Division III Juniata, and 37 kills (7.40/set) in a 5-set victory over PS-Altoona. For the week, Weaver answered the call for the Hawks at the net providing 5.77 kills/set and 6.2 points/set, adding 15 kills (1.15) and 7 blocks (.54).
Already leading Division III with kills/set and points/set, Weaver had a big week to extend his separation from the division. In a 3-0 win over D’Youville, the senior tallied 18 kills and 10 digs. He followed this with another 30 kills in a win over Wells, and 25 kills in a loss to Keuka. The senior finished with 73 kills in 11 sets (6.64/set) and 79 total points (7.2/set). Weaver added 30 digs (2.73/set) on the week, while committing just 19 errors and hitting at a .353 clip. In the AMCC, Weaver is currently ranked 1st in kills/set (4.84) and 1st in kills (489).
Riggsby, a setter, tallied 92 aces (10.22/set) for the Mavericks, while adding 9 service aces (1.00/set), 14 digs (1.56/set), and 11 total blocks (1.22/set) to lead his team in a 3-0 week. In the AMCC, Riggsby is currently ranked 1st in assists/set (8.82).
Members of the Penn State Altoona men's and women's volleyball teams and head coach Phil Peterman provided a volleyball clinic for athletes from the Special Olympics of Blair County on Saturday, March 1 in the Adler Gym prior to the Lions' match that day.
Kocher had double-digit kills in both matches at the PS-Altoona tri-match. The senior had a season-best 20 kills and hit .548 in the win over Hilbert and then added another 13 kills to defeat PS-Altoona. Overall, Kocher totaled 48 kills (3.20/set) on a .250 clip, committing only 21 errors in 15 sets. Kocher also added 1 assist, 4 service aces, 19 digs (1.29/set), and 10 blocks (0.67/set).
Roberts had a strong showing for the Lions, who went 2-0 last week. The senior posted a season-best 21 kills in a 3-2 win at Lancaster Bible to go along with 9 digs, 2 solo blocks, and 3 block assists. In a 3-0 win over Cazenovia, Roberts tallied 7 kills, 2 solo blocks, and 1 block assist. On the week, Roberts averaged 3.5 kills/set and hit at a .310 clip while adding 1.38 digs/set and 0.88 blocks/set. In the AMCC, Roberts is currently ranked 3rd in kills/set (2.94), 3rd in total kills (106), 3rd in digs/set (2.56), 5th in total digs (92), and 4th in blocks/set (0.69).
Weaver dominated in the Hawks' 4-set victory over Keuka, finishing with 22 kills, 3 aces, 8 digs, 1 solo and 4 assisted blocks. For the weekend, the senior collected 36 kills (5.14/s) while adding 4 service aces, pushing him one ace away from becoming Hilbert’s all-time leader. Weaver hit at a .311 pace, committing just 8 errors across 7 sets and tallying 1.43 blocks/set and 2.43 digs/set.
Smith was instrumental in the Lions’ 2-1 weekend at the UVC Crossover. The sophomore totaled 27 kills, 12 blocks, and 6 digs over three matches. Smith hit at a .571 clip with 13 kills and 1 error in the win over Bard. He followed this performance with another 6 kills and 6 blocks in a five set, 3-2 win over nationally ranked NYU. On the week, Smith totaled 27 kills (2.45/set) with just 8 errors and a .388 hitting percentage. He also had 6 digs and 11 blocks. In the AMCC, Smith is currently ranked 1st in hitting percentage (.360) and 1st in blocks/set (1.26).
Weaver earned 86 kills in five matches (4.78 k/s), with a total of 17 digs, and 7 service aces. The senior had 36 kills while hitting at a .247 attack percentage against three of the top 10 teams in the AVCA at the Golden Flyer Tournament hosted by Nazareth. Weaver continues to lead the UVC. In the AMCC, Weaver is currently ranked 1st in kills/set (5.09), 1st in kills (219), 4th in digs (42), and 3rd in hitting percentage (.282).
Weaver has picked-up where he left off last season, leading the Hawks to a program-best three consecutive wins by averaging 8.17 k/s in victories over Mount Ida and Elms. On the week, the senior averaged 6.00 k/s while hitting at an impressive .434 clip. Weaver also accumulated 5 service aces and 15 digs. In the AMCC, Weaver is currently ranked 1st in kills/set (5.36), 1st in total kills (118), 5th in total digs (23), and 2nd in hitting percentage (.328).
In his first collegiate match against nationally-ranked conference opponent Medaille, Byers had a strong showing. The freshman tallied 8 kills and led the team with 3 service aces. He also finished with the best hitting percentage on the team, swining at a .353 clip. In the AMCC, Byers is currently ranked first in hitting percentage (.353) and first in service aces/set (.75).
Four of the AMCC five men's volleyball teams will compete as associate members of the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) beginning with the 2014-15 season.