Posted: Jun 19, 2015

Season In Review: Wells College Men's Volleyball

Throughout the summer of 2015, the Wells College Department of Athletics website will look back at the "year that was". Starting with men's lacrosse on Thursday, June 11, a comprehensive "season in review" for each of Wells' 14 NCAA Division III varsity sports will be posted, giving fans not only a look back but also a look forward to the upcoming season of play.

Men's Lacrosse (06/11/15)
Women's Tennis (06/12/15)
Men's Volleyball (06/19/15)
Women's Lacrosse (06/26/15)
Men's Basketball (07/03/15)
Women's Swimming (07/10/15)
Women's Basketball (07/17/15)
Men's Swimming (07/24/15)
Field Hockey (07/31/15)
Men's Soccer (08/07/15)
Women's Volleyball (08/14/15)
Men's Cross Country (08/21/15)
Women's Soccer (08/28/15)
Women's Cross Country (09/04/15)

The Wells College men's volleyball team posted eight victories within North Eastern Athletic Conference play en route to their first postseason appearance in team history. Cumulatively, Wells played an extremely challenging season that featured four matches against three nationally-ranked programs (Elmira, Nazareth, Juniata). In only their fourth season as a varsity program, the Express saw numerous breakout performances from its young roster in 2015.

STATISTICAL LEADERS


KILLS Brannon Perdicho 237	ASSISTS Scott Litvin 784	SERVICE ACES Liam Kaylor 28	DIGS Jack Battumur 340

POSTSEASON AWARD WINNERS


MOST VALUABLE PLAYER Alex Battey	ROOKIE OF THE YEAR Brannon Perdicho Jack Battumur	EXPRESS AWARD Paul Hernon

NOTABLES

"PAUL"-ITICS: Paul Hernon (New Hartford, N.Y.) earned the institution's first-ever Capital One Academic All-American First Team At-Large honor. He becomes the first-ever recipient of Academic All-America honors from Wells College and is one of 15 First Team At-Large selections from NCAA Division III colleges and universities across the country. The only student-athlete in North Eastern Athletic Conference history to earn First Team merits, Hernon is the fourth student-athlete in conference history to earn Academic All-American placement of any kind.

YOU NOW KNOW "JACK": Freshman Jack Battumur (Denver, Colo.), the team's starting libero, concluded his rookie season with a Second Team All-NEAC selection after ranking eighth amongst all NCAA Division III men's volleyball players with 3.07 digs per set, placing third in the conference. His 3.17 digs per set against conference opponents placed him fourth overall amongst his peers and his 328 digs on the year ranked him second, trailing the NEAC Defensive Player of the Year, Brandon Stitt, by only 10 digs.

THE TERMINATOR: Joining Battumur on the NEAC Second Team All-Conference, freshman Brannon Perdicho (Victor, N.Y.) appeared in 23 matches for Wells and posted team-leading marks of 230 kills and 3.03 kills/set, ranking him fifth overall in the NEAC in the latter statistic. The winner of two NEAC Student-Athlete of the Week awards, his 230 kills not only set a single-season program record for the Express, but also placed him 10th amongst all players in the conference.

DRIVING THE OPPONENTS "BATTEY": Last year's NEAC Rookie of the Year, Alex Battey (Palmdale, Calif.) earned Third Team All-NEAC honors by finishing fifth in the league by hitting .243 on the year, a team-high mark that also ranked 78th amongst NCAA Division III institutions nationwide. Defensively, Battey finished tied for fifth in the conference in blocks per set (0.85), but was second overall in total blocks (88) to trail only Hernon.

WHAT A STREAK!: Across a three-match winning streak from Apr. 1 to Apr. 10, Wells posted a 9-0 victory against St. Elizabeth before back-to-back 8-1 wins against Penn College and Lancaster Bible, winning by a combined 25-2 margin.

MR. 500: Junior John Farruggia (West Winfield, N.Y.) cracked the 500-kill plateau during the season. From 2013 to the present day, Farruggia has hammered home 569 total kills for a .149 hitting percentage that ranks him sixth all-time in team history. His 1,747 total attacks also make him one of only two players to have 1,000-plus swings in team history.

YOU JUST GOT SERVED: Also known for his serving prowess, Farruggia has registered 110 service aces and has the fourth-most career service aces per set (.427/set) amongst all NCAA Division III student-athletes. Defensively, he also boasts 473 digs to rank second all-time in team history.

SEASON HIGHS: Two players tied the team record for kills in a match in 2015 - Farruggia tied Caleb Mannix's team record of 19 kills on Feb. 13 against Hilbert before Perdicho hammered home 19 against D'Youville on Mar. 14. Perdicho also hit a collective .522 (16-4-23) against New Jersey City on Apr. 4, setting a team record, while freshman Scott Litvin (Sayville, N.Y.) set up a team record 53 kills against Hilbert on Feb. 7.