2019 MAAC Volleyball Season Begins
EDISON, N.J. (Aug. 28, 2019) – The non-conference portion of the 2019 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) volleyball season begins this Friday, with every team scheduled to play at least one match. All teams will begin 2019 on the road.
Canisius College was ranked the preseason favorite, as voted on by the league’s 10 head coaches. Canisius’ Leah Simmons was voted the Preseason Player of the Year after a strong 2018 campaign, leading the Golden Griffins to the MAAC Volleyball Championship Game at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Canisius’ season begins in Sacramento, California, where the Golden Griffins will play Sacramento State, Nevada, and CSU Bakersfield over the weekend.
This year’s MAAC Championship moves to the campus of Fairfield University, which lasted hosted the event in 2017. The Stags were ranked second in this year’s Preseason Poll after making the semifinals in last year’s championship. Dating back to 2012, Fairfield has won five of the last seven MAAC Championships. The Stags begin the season in Baltimore, Maryland, with matches against Temple, UMBC, and Lafayette.
The defending champion Iona College Gaels were ranked third in this season’s Preseason Poll. The Gaels welcome first year head coach Esai Velez-Perez to New Rochelle, who previously served five years as an assistant coach for Hofstra University. Velez-Perez will look to guide the Maroon and Gold to the school’s first ever back-to-back championship. The Gaels’ season begins in West Point, taking on Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Army.
Other MAAC teams set to start the 2019 season include:
- Manhattan College traveling to Moon Township, Pennsylvania, to take on Robert Morris, McNeese State, and Elon.
- Marist College heading to Western New York to play Colgate, Buffalo, and Villanova.
- Niagara University playing Florida Atlantic, Youngstown State, and Hartford in Boca Raton.
- Quinnipiac University facing William and Mary, Towson, and Seton Hall in Baltimore.
- Rider University making the trip to the Nation’s capital to play Central Arkansas, Georgetown, Central Connecticut State, and Sacred Heart.
- Saint Peter’s University playing Maryland Eastern Shore, Central Michigan, and St. Francis Brooklyn in nearby Brooklyn.
- Siena College also making a Baltimore trip to take on Coppin State on Sunday and Morgan State on Tuesday.
Keep up with all MAAC volleyball action by following @MAACSports on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For championship information, visit
MAACSports.com/VB.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 39
th year of competition during the 2019-20 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.