Men’s Volleyball’s Biggers, Curaro and Kropp Nab End of Year Skyline Honors
Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)
New York, NY| Freshman Kyle Biggers was named Rookie of the Year and head coach Bill Kropp was selected as Coach of the Year when the Skyline Conference released its end-of-season men's volleyball awards on Tuesday morning.
Additionally, Biggers landed on the All-Conference First-Team and fellow freshman Paul Curaro appeared on the Second-Team.
In the first year of the program, Biggers led the conference—and as of Tuesday afternoon the nation—in hitting percentage (.469) and collected 232 kills and 58 blocks on the year. The middle blocker was the only player on the team to appear in all 106 sets this season and finished second in total points (280.5).
Curaro led the team in both kills/set (2.90) and service aces/set (.48) and ranked fifth and third in the conference, respectively, in the same categories. Additionally, the outside hitter was first on the team in total kills (299) and was second in digs (192).
Kropp took on an upstart program and led it to a 19-11 overall record and a 6-3 Skyline Conference mark, good enough to earn the fourth seed in the conference championship. After defeating Sage in the first round of the tournament, the Golden Eagles earned a semifinal berth but were defeated 3-0 at the hands of the eventual six-time defending conference champion Kean University.
Kropp's team would finish the season third in the conference in both hitting percentage (.239) and opponent hitting percentage (.151).
2017 Skyline Conference Men's Volleyball All-Conference Team
First Team
Name School Cl. Pos. Hometown
Kyle Biggers #, St. Joseph's-Long Island, Fr., MB, Holbrook, N.Y.
Kevin Carges, Purchase, Sr., OH, Brockport, N.Y.
Tyler Cucullu, Mount Saint Vincent, Sr., OH, Henderson, Nev.
Justin Feigeles, Ramapo, Jr., OH, Bellmore, N.Y.
Ryan Guyton, Sage, Jr., OH/Opp., Lockport, N.Y.
Jacob Kauffman *, Kean, Jr., OH, York, Pa.
David Penaherrera, NJCU, So., L, Harrison, N.J.
Jared Warner Kean, Jr., MB, York, Pa.
Second Team
Name School Cl. Pos. Hometown
Nick Amos, Ramapo, Sr., MB, Fair Lawn, N.J.
Bailey Cecchi, Sage, Jr., OH, Agawam, Mass.
Paul Curaro, St. Joseph's-Long Island, Fr., OH, Holbrook, N.Y.
Logan Dickover, Mount Saint Vincent, Jr., S, Las Vegas, Nev.
Casey Fitzpatrick, Sage, Jr., L, Haverhill, Mass.
Julian Moreira, NJCU, Fr., RS/MH, Miami, Fla.
Shayron Taylor, Kean, Jr., MB, Jersey City, N.J.
Steven Zarzycki, Kean, Fr., OH, Rochester, N.Y.
* Player of the Year: Jacob Kauffman, Kean
# Rookie of the Year: Kyle Biggers, St. Joseph's-Long Island
Coach of the Year: Bill Kropp, St. Joseph's-Long Island (first season)
