2026 SEASON PREVIEW: Men’s Volleyball is the latest new sport to enter the swarm
DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College men's volleyball is making its long-awaited arrival at the Karl H. Weaner Center on Thursday night, beginning its inaugural 26-game season. The Yellow Jackets play their first two matches at home before a long stretch on the road to start February.
Led by Director of Volleyball Jeremy Thornburg, he is excited to see the fruits of the past 18 months of work begin to build a sustainable and competitive program, starting with this group. Thornburg has guided the DC women's program to the conference tournament in each of his two seasons, all while building the men's program after it was announced in May 2024. Thornburg is no stranger to building a program from scratch having previously leading the new men's program at Division III Loras College in Iowa just over a decade ago.
About the Team
With a whole new-to-Defiance roster, the Yellow Jackets have 19 freshman starting their college volleyball careers. The other five players are transfers to provide DC with some immediate leadership and experience. Oneil Alvarez and Quinn Silverman are familiar names within the WHAC after coming from Aquinas. Defiance also has two years of experience from Ottawa-transfer Billy Bottcher and Channing Williams from SUNY Purchase. Defiance also brought in France native Philippe Meny from Park University after one season. This year's team has nine players from Ohio, five from Indiana, two from Michigan, and one player representing Illinois, Pennsylvania, Missouri, New Jersey, Florida, and California.
Conference Outlook
Defiance is one of 10 teams in the WHAC for men's volleyball, which includes a handful of affiliate members. Full WHAC members Aquinas, Cornerstone, Indiana Tech, Lawrence Tech, Lourdes and Rochester Christian also field men's volleyball teams alongside Defiance. The remainder of the field includes Bethel, Goshen and Mount Vernon Nazarene. The preseason coaches poll saw Lawrence Tech emerge as the top-ranked team in the conference with six first-place votes after the Blue Devils captured last year's WHAC Tournament title. Since first crowning a conference champion in 2019, all other regular-season and tournament titles have been won by Indiana Tech or Lourdes. Defiance was selected to finish ninth in the preseason poll ahead of Rochester Christian and just behind Goshen and Mount Vernon.
Click here to view the full DC Men's Volleyball schedule!
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