New Haven, Conn. – The Albertus Magnus College men's volleyball team finished the 2016 season with a 5-16 overall record and landed in eighth in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) with a 0-14 mark in league matches.
In his second year at the helm of the program, Head Coach Kelvin Jones guided the Falcons to non-conference victories against Brooklyn College, CCNY, York College and two versus Medgar Evers. All five of the AMC triumphs this year came against opponents from the Empire State.
Following the campaign, senior outside hitter Ben Spilka (Redding, Conn.) represented Albertus Magnus on the GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team. The 6-0 playmaker appeared in 20 matches for the Falcons and saw action in 65 sets. During his final season on the team, Spilka registered 107 kills, 117 digs, 21 assists and accounted for 118.5 points. All of those marks were new career highs for him.
After dropping their first two matches of the season, the Falcons reeled off a season-best four-game winning streak. Albertus Magnus raced past Brooklyn College, 3-1, for its first victory of the year on February 10. It was a career day for AMC freshman setter Jeremy Ortiz (Bridgeport, Conn.), as he recorded 36 assists, seven digs and six kills to lead the Falcons. The hosts also received strong contests from seniors Justin Tharau (Burlington, Conn.) and Spilka. Tharau registered a double-double with a team-high 17 kills and 10 digs, while Spilka produced 10 kills. Down the stretch, the Falcons pulled away in the fourth stanza to seal the victory. With the score knotted at 20, Albertus Magnus scored five of the final six points capped by a Spilka kill to earn the victory.
Three days later, AMC blanked Medgar Evers in New York. The three-set triumph was the first shutout of the winter for Albertus and their first road win of the season as well. The Falcons held Medgar Evers to fewer than 20 points in each game by finishing strong in all three frames.
The winning streak came to a close for Albertus Magnus on Sunday, February 21, by sweeping a tri-match versus CCNY and Medgar Evers. In the first match versus the Beavers, Albertus Magnus scored a 25-23, 25-14 and 25-22 win. Junior middle hitter Joshua Turner (Trumbull, Conn.) paced the Falcons in the win, recording 13 kills, two digs and a game-high six blocks. In the final match of the afternoon, Albertus Magnus netted a 25-22, 25-22, 25-15 win against the Cougars. As a team, AMC registered 39 kills, 35 digs and five blocks.
In a tri-match versus York and John Jay later in the year, the Falcons topped the host Cardinals 25-21, 25-12, 22-25 and 25-21. As a team, the Falcons produced a season-high 52 kills, 30 digs and eight blocks in what would prove to be their final triumph of the season. Tharau had arguably his strongest game of the winter versus York, recording a double-double with 22 kills and 12 digs. Tharau also had a .381 attack percentage to go along with one service ace in the win.
Over the final month of the regular season, Albertus Magnus dropped its final 13 matches to fall short of qualifying for the GNAC Tournament.
During the year, a pair of AMC players were honored by the league as Tharau was once named the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week and Ortiz was tabbed as the GNAC Rookie of the Week in late February. At the Department of Athletics End of the Year Banquet, Tharau was honored as the team's MVP, Turner was the Most Improved Player on the squad and Spilka picked up the Falcon Award.
Offensively, Tharau paced the Falcon attack with 236 kills and 3.42 kills per set. He ranked second in the conference in kills per set. Turner added 123 kills and a team-high .195 attack percentage during his junior campaign and Spilka also topped the 100-kill plateau for Albertus Magnus. In the middle Ortiz had a breakout campaign for Albertus Magnus, dishing out 464 assists and adding 32 kills. He produced the second-highest assist total in program history and averaged just under seven per set.
On the defensive side, Tharau had a team-best 208 digs and was in the top-five in the GNAC with over three digs per set. The 208 digs were the second-best mark in a single-season in program history. Turner set a school record with his 55 total blocks in 2016 and his 42 solo blocks were also a new program best. Spilka and Ortiz both topped the 100-dig mark finishing with 117 and 115, respectively. At the net, senior Connor Filkins (Wallingford, Conn.) chipped in 24 total blocks and Ortiz contributed 19 of his own.
For the latest information on the men's volleyball team and Albertus Magnus athletics, follow AMCAthletics on Twitter and visit AlbertusFalcons.com.
