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“It was a phenomenal year for us,” he says. “We played great.” Without hesitation, he says it was the best team he’s ever coached.
Last year’s team was exceptional in many ways, as members set a new standard for men’s volleyball at Stevens.
Andrew Cranford ’09, the 6-foot-5-inch, 220-pound middle hitter from Bel Air, Md., grabbed honors as the Division III Men’s Volleyball Player of the Year and had the highest hitting percentage in the nation among all Division III players. This summer, he headed to Rotterdam, Germany, to play professionally and has a real shot at making the 2016 U.S. Olympic team for men’s volleyball, Dorywalski says.
Cranford, Grobeis and Joe Trinsey ’09 were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America Team, with Brandeis and Michael Bertucci ’09 also named to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District at Large Team. Bertucci, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, maintained a 4.0 grade point average, was a popular campus leader and was named valedictorian for the Class of 2009.
“He was absolutely one of the best people ever to come through Stevens,” Dorywalski says of Bertucci. “He was a genuine person—an absolute heart of gold.” And perhaps a good influence on his fellow players, as the team had an overall grade point average of 3.2.
“I have very, very smart players,” Dorywalski says. “They all brought something to the plate,” be it a great attitude, great skill or a good sense of humor.
Dorywalski says that he’s had teams with just as much talent, but this championship team had that extra something—a cohesiveness and sense of teamwork so critical to the sport.
“It’s very important in volleyball that you have the right chemistry and that players like each other and get along,” he says. “This team—they just liked each other a lot.”
The Ducks faced a few struggles early in the season, including injuries and a tough schedule that included losses to Harvard and Princeton. But as the season wound down, everything was coming into place: the team’s confidence, the right mentality and, finally, good health.
“They were definitely ready to play in the national championship,” Dorywalski said. They had the experience, as this would be the team’s sixth trip to the Final Four in recent years.
At the Final Four this past spring, Stevens first faced the University of Santa Cruz. Months later, Grobeis can recall details of the entire tournament as if it happened yesterday.
As the Ducks entered the arena, about 500 people had already filled the bleachers and Grobeis got a text message: two busloads of Stevens fans were on their way.
When the team members warmed up, everyone seemed to be jumping two inches higher than usual, and excitement was building, Grobeis says, but they still didn’t see the Stevens crowd.
Then, a noisy train of Stevens people made its entrance. They’re playing drum sticks and fog horns and some have painted their shirts with the players’ names and numbers.
Some have even painted themselves. And they’re loud.
“It was distracting, but it was overwhelming, it was exciting,” Grobeis says. “It was thunderous when our team was announced.”
“It was huge—it was so exciting!” Dorywalski says. “They were painted, they had these wavy things, everybody was there. The crowd was so loud, it was awesome.”
With a great Stevens crowd behind them, Stevens defeated UC Santa Cruz in hard-fought three sets, 30-24, 30-26 and 31-29.
“We smoked them,” Grobeis says with a smile. The Ducks saluted their faithful fans afterwards.
The championship game, held the next evening, on April 18, saw another large Stevens crowd and a formidable opponent. Earlier in the season, Stevens had battled Juniata at Juniata before losing in five sets. This would be another good fight, but Juniata’s tough serving and defense proved tough to beat, as Stevens struggled with blocking and passing. The Ducks lost in three hotly contested sets.
“We were hitting the serves as hard as we could,” says Grobeis. “They just simply outplayed us.”
But Stevens had made history—and made the Institute proud.
Men’s Volleyball at Stevens has certainly made giant leaps since Dorywalski started the program in 1990; he also started the women’s program. Back then, Stevens played volleyball on a dirt floor at the old Mott Field House and players usually came from New Jersey and the surrounding area, he says. As the Stevens Athletics program has grown in prominence and in resources in recent years (and volleyball is now played in the state-of-the-art Canavan Arena), Stevens Men’s Volleyball has definitely become a nationally recognized force. Today, Do-rywalski recruits students from across the country; last year’s team included players from Hawaii, California, Missouri, Flo-rida, Maryland and Delaware, as well as New Jersey and New York.
“Now, we’re going after the best players in the country,” Dorywalski says. “They’re coming here not only for the athletics but also for the academics.”
Stevens lost six of its eight volleyball starters to graduation, but Dorywalski says that he’s optimistic about the coming season. He’s blessed with a deeply talented team and a terrific crop of freshmen, he says. “I actually think that we’re going to surprise a lot of people,” he says.
As of early September, the practicing and workouts had begun. They’re not mandatory now, but most everyone comes, as they prepare for a new season in January.
“It’s young, the mentality is different,” Grobeis, the seasoned junior, says. “They definitely have a great attitude. It’s raw young talent.”
He sees this team as having a real shot at the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association championship. And another trip to the nationals will surely be on their minds.
“To be an athlete and say that you’ve played in the national championship game—nothing’s as exciting as this,” Grobeis says.
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