Men’s Volleyball Team Listed as Top-20 National Vote Getter in Preseason Coaches Poll

The American Volleyball Coaches Association 2021 Preseason D-III Men's Volleyball Coaches Poll was released with the Wells College men's volleyball team receiving the 19th-most votes on two or more ballots.

Last season, the Express began at No. 11 in the 2020 Preseason D-III Coaches Poll and slowly climbed peaking at No. 6 in mid-February.

Of the teams that received more votes than Wells in the latest 2021 Preseason Poll, the Express faced three of them last season.

Wells beat current No.7 St. John Fisher by a 3-1 score in their tournament in mid-January 2020. Wells also faced current No. 1 Springfield in late January in Mass. and No. 3 Vassar in the team's last match in early March.

The later contest was the first time in Wells men's volleyball program history that a pair of nationally-ranked top-10 teams faced off against one another. With the match tied at 2-2, Wells fell on the short end of a 15-13 fifth set.

The Express' 2020 season was impressive both from a statistical standpoint, as well as in post season awards and accolades.

The Express topped the NEAC conference in total kills with 974 and averaged the second most kills per set at 12.49.  Wells showed it was an all-around team, totaling a NEAC-best 900 assists, 814 digs (10.44 digs per set) and 129 service aces (1.65 aces per set ranked second).  Wells also ranked second in hitting percentage (.238). 

Robert Patzer was named NEAC Co-Player of the Year and Wells College head coach Jim Nichols earned NEAC Men's Volleyball Coach of the Year after leading the Express to a 18-4 record including 4-0 in NEAC play with several top-10 national rankings throughout the season in the AVCA Coaches Poll.

Nichols had four players selected to NEAC All-Conference Teams that included Patzer, Caden O'Loughlin, Justin Williams and Josh Undari.

The latest AVCA D-III Coaches Poll can be found at: https://www.avca.org/polls/diii-men/1-4-2020.html