NJCAA Invitational information

College of DuPage will take the No. 1 seed when it opens the 2025 NJCAA Men's Volleyball Invitational tomorrow afternoon in Canandaigua, N.Y. and hosted by Finger Lakes Community College.

The 20-2 Chaparrals face the winner of the No. 8 Monroe Bronx (10-18) / No. 9 Passaic County (8-12) at 1 p.m. Eastern on Friday afternoon.

Ten of the 18 teams that compete at the NJCAA level will be participating in the double-elimination invitational.

Chaps head coach Tolis Koskinaris brings a squad that is unbeaten against NJCAA opponents, racking up a 10-0 record with just two set losses.

"The guys are focused with one match at a time attitude,'' he said. "This is a mature group with sophomores who have the NJCAA experience and freshmen who have 22 matches under their belts.''

Freshmen Braeden Zant and Adam Janowiak carry the Chaps' torch, bringing a combined 436 kills into the invite. The Chaps average 10.67 kills/set and are hitting .224.

Defensively, they are just as stout with 1.99 blocks/set and keeping the ball alive with 11.91 digs/set.

Sophomore setter Nathan Perez (579 assists, 7.93/set) sets the tone for the Chaps' offense. He and MB Justus Barbel (24 solo blocks, 51 assists, 0.95 b/s) drive COD's efforts.

"Guys like Nathan and Justus are proven leaders,'' Koskinaris said. "Both fantastic players and benefit the team by making others better.''

Should COD win its tourney opener, the Chaps move on to play at 6 p.m. Friday against either No. 5 Bryant and Stratton and the host and No. 4 Finger Lakes.

"We've played well all season,'' Koskinaris said. "The guys know how to win on the road and we're looking forward to playing our best volleyball of the season when it matters the most.''

It marks the third year the NJCAA has sponsored the invitational. COD was the host for the first two seasons and each invitational was won by this year's host school, Finger Lakes.