Poughkeepsie, NY - The preseason #7 Vassar College Men's Volleyball team was named the UVC Preseason Favorite last week as the Brewers will open the 2026 season with an exhibition against Menlo on Wednesday evening before heading to the UC Santa Cruz Slug Slam on Friday and Saturday. Vassar will square off with the #13 Banana Slugs on Friday at 6:00 p.m. (ET) followed by a rematch of last season's NCAA matchup with #9 Cal Lutheran and Concordia (Wis.) on Saturday.

Last Season at a Glance

• Vassar finished the 2025 campaign with a 22-7 overall record and went 4-3 in UVC matchups to earn the third seed in the conference championship.
• The Brewers earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, marking the third straight NCAA Tournament appearance, to take on final four participant Cal Lutheran.
• Three Brewers were tabbed All-UVC selections while junior Armaan Desai was tabbed an AVCA All-Region II and AVCA Honorable Mention All-American selection.
• VC scored seven victories against nationally-ranked foes in 2025.

Previewing the Brewers

• Vassar will look to replace Gavin Akoto (72 blocks, 143 kills), Billy Fan (171 kills, 40 aces) and Payne Lounsbery (448 assists, 49 aces) who finished in the top-three in multiple categories a season ago.
• Desai returns for the Brewers following an All-American campaign which saw him lead the squad in total blocks with 86 and posted the fourth-highest single season mark in solo blocks with 20. Desai also ranked third on the team in kills with 151, aces with 22 and hit .344 on the season.
• Junior Walter Birnbaum also returns after leading Vassar in kills with 221 last season and added 43 total blocks.
• Sophomore Shawn Zheng will return following a strong start to his first year campaign before an injury where he totaled 131 kills in just 17 matches.
• Junior Tucker Shearn is back after leading the team in digs each of the past two seasons for 493 digs in his first two seasons.
• Junior Parker Schoenl marks the returning assist leader following 283 assists last season and also landed 14 aces.
• Seniors James Zuckerman, Doug Chandler and Cannon Tucker also return for their senior campaigns and will look to help replace the production of last season's seniors.
• Senior Casey McMenamin enters his senior campaign after lifting a career-high in digs last season.
• Junior Enzo Bertini, sophomore Henry Bonney, sophomore Stuart Dow, sophomore Petar Miocinovic all will provide significant contributions in 2026.

Newcomers

• Vassar brings in six newcomers in 2026 as Peter Krackeler, Carroll Jenkins, Darwin Davis, Mason Cochran, George Idowu and Kaden Chen will all look to make an instant impact for the Brewers.

AVCA National Preseason Poll

1. Springfield
2. Carthage
3. Juniata
4. Southern Virginia
5. Messiah
6. Stevens
7. Vassar
8. NYU
9. Cal Lutheran
10. Aurora
11. Wentworth
12. New Paltz
13. UC Santa Cruz
14. Loras
15. Baldwin Wallace
16. Hobart
17. St. John Fisher
18. North Central
19. MIT
20. Misericordia

UVC Preseason Poll

1. Vassar - 44 points (3 First Place Votes)
2. New Paltz - 41 points (3 First Place Votes)
3. NYU - 41 points (2 First Place Votes)
4. St. John Fisher - 29 points
5. Hobart - 25 points
6. MIT - 20 points
7. Nazareth - 16 points
8. Elmira - 7 points

The Gary File

• Head Coach Richard Gary returns for his 10th season at the helm of the Brewers and ranks as the all-time winningest Men's Volleyball coach in program history with a record of 180-63 (.741).
• Vassar has won two conference titles ('21 and '23) and has made six NCAA Tournament appearances, including each of the last three seasons.
• The Brewers have advanced to the National Semifinals three times in Gary's tenure, including a run to the National Championship match in 2024.
• Gary was named the AVCA National Coach of the Year in 2023, marking just the second coach in Vassar program history to earn the prestigious honor.
• Gary has also been honored as the UVC Coach of the Year four times in his tenure with the Brewers and has twice been named the AVCA North Region Coach of the Year.

The Schedule

• Following the opening weekend in California, Vassar begins the home slate with a tri-match with Mount Aloysius and Rutgers-Newark on January 24.
• The Brewers will then head to #1 Springfield on January 31 before returning home for a tri-match with #2 Carthage and Widener on February 7.
• The UVC slate opens on February 14 on the road against #19 MIT followed by a conference matchup with #16 Hobart on February 20.
• VC will play host to Kean and Arcadia for another tri-match on February 21 before taking on conference rivals New Paltz (February 25) and Elmira (February 28) at home.
• Vassar will welcome preseason #1 Springfield to Kenyon Hall as well on February 28 before hitting the road for the month of March.
• The Brewers will head to Drew and #5 Messiah on March 6 and 7 before heading to Russell Sage on March 18.
• Vassar then will head to Nichols on March 20 and a road tri-match with NJCU and Hunter on March 21.
• The final two road matches of the season will be in Rochester with Vassar taking on Nazareth on March 27 and #17 St. John Fisher on March 28.
• Vassar's UVC finale will be against #8 NYU on April 1 before closing out the regular season with #6 Stevens and Elizabethtown for Senior Day on April 4.
• The three-day UVC Championship will commence on April 10 with first round matchups followed by the semifinals on April 11 and the UVC champion will be crowned on April 12.