COLONIA, N.J. – The two-time defending champion St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans have been predicted to win the 2026 ECC Men's Volleyball Championship on April 25, as voted on by the league's four head coaches and announced on Thursday afternoon. In that same vote, STAC junior outside hitter Kyran Versteegen (Sittard, Netherlands) and Roberts Wesleyan senior libero/outside hitter Moises Jimenez (Cayey, Puerto Rico) tie for ECC Preseason Co-Players of the Year. Versteegen was the 2024 ECC Player of the Year while Jimenez is the two-time defending ECC Libero of the Year.
With 14 points and three first-place votes, the back-to-back ECC defending champion St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans top the preseason poll. STAC went 16-9 overall and 6-0 in league play to claim the ECC Regular Season Championship last spring and went on to sweep American International, 3-0, and Roberts Wesleyan, 3-0, to claim its second consecutive ECC Men's Volleyball Championship tournament title. St. Thomas Aquinas went 8-0 against conference opponents (6-0 in the regular season and 2-0 in the postseason) and didn't drop a set to the Chargers, Redhawks, or Yellow Jackets (24-0).
The Spartans also ranked second nationally among all Division I and Division II programs in opponent hitting percentage, holding their opposition, which included multiple Division I opponents, to a clip of 19.1 percent.
STAC returns four Spartans who appeared in 70+ sets last season, including junior middle blocker David Weiss, the reigning NCAA leader in blocks per set (1.3), sophomore libero Ivaylo Todorov, who ranked top five in the NCAA last year in digs per set (2.57), senior setter Marcus Franck, and, of course, Versteegen.
Versteegen sat fourth in the conference in hitting percentage (22.2 percent), fifth in points per set (3.15) and kills per set (2.73), eighth in points (223.5), kills (194), and digs per set (1.46), and 10th in digs (104) and service aces (13) last year. Predicted to once again dominate the conference scene, Versteegen was the ECC Player of the Year and Most Outstanding Player of the ECC Championship tournament in the conference's inaugural season back in 2024.
Returning all three of their 2025 All-ECC major award winners in Jimenez, ECC Setter of the Year Landon Brouwer, and ECC Co-Rookie of the Year Ryan DeJohn alongside the 2024 All-ECC trio of junior outside hitter Griffin Monrad, junior middle blocker Paul Fillion, and senior middle blocker/outside hitter Noah Louisfi, Roberts Wesleyan comes in at No. 2 in the preseason poll with 11 points.
Jimenez led the ECC with 277 total digs last season and ranked second in the conference and eighth in the NCAA in digs per set (2.52). A five-time Defensive Player of the Week a year ago, Jimenez posted 22 digs against Dominican, 15 digs against American International, and 14 digs against St. Thomas Aquinas.
Returning two of their 2025 All-ECC selections in junior outside hitter Ayden Shaw and junior middle blocker Tommaso Falchi, Dominican sits No. 3 in the preseason poll with nine points and the remaining first-place vote. Senior libero Alejandro Miranda and junior outside hitter Gavin Tate round out DUNY's core four of returners who played in 60+ matches last year while an additional notable returner is Phinehaus Wiley, the 2024 ECC Rookie of the Year who returns to the East Coast Conference after spending a year at Division II Vanguard University.
American International rounds out the preseason voting with six points. A pair of outside hitters in 2025 All-ECC selection Emil Zhmaidziak and 2024 All-ECC selection Robert Santana return to lead the attack for the Yellow Jackets.
RWU kicks off the 2026 season on Thursday, January 8 at D'Youville, while STAC and DUNY open up on Friday, January 9 with the Spartans heading to Pepperdine and the Chargers hosting Merrimack. AIC will begin play up at Nichols on January 17.
2026 ECC Men's Volleyball Preseason Poll
1. St. Thomas Aquinas - 14 points (3 first-place votes)
2. Roberts Wesleyan - 11 points
3. Dominican - 9 points (1 first-place vote)
4. American International - 6 points
2026 ECC Men's Volleyball Preseason Co-Players of the Year
Kyran Versteegen, St. Thomas Aquinas, Jr., OH
Moises Jimenez, Roberts Wesleyan, Sr., L/OH