The Newberry College Wolves men's volleyball team will open their first season on the road Tuesday at Erskine at 6:00 p.m.

Head coach Kiko Santos has recruited a hometown heavy roster with 10 of the 15 players from the Palmetto State.

"I'm beyond excited," said Santos.  "The start of men's volleyball at Newberry College is a big step forward on the national scene and many schools around the country are adding men's volleyball.  I think there is a real excitement that men's volleyball brings."

The team had a successful fall and is anxious to get the season started.

"Our guys are excited and we are ready to compete," said Santos.

As a first-year program there will be some unique pieces to the puzzle.

"The challenge is that we aren't an established program.  We are figuring out things in a shorter amount of the time.  The strength of the team is the cohesiveness of the players.  There is a really good team chemistry.  We need to establish how we want to play based on our squad strengths."

Right side hitter Lucas Nieves is the veteran of the team after transferring from Emmanuel (Ga.) where he started 22 of 27 games last year scoring 177.5 points, finishing second on the team with 152 kills and 14 service aces.  In two seasons he started 43 matches with 262 kills.

The rest of the roster is made up entirely of freshmen.

The middle blocker position will feature Ignacio Rodriguez (May River HS) and Carson Kramer (Loxahatchee, Fla.).

Outside hitters include Alex Arbez (Perpignan, France), Preston Anderson (Eastside HS) and Timothy Cox (Greenwood HS).

The setter position features Grayson Crumpton (Easley HS) and Tibulo Smith (Cape Coral, Fla.).

At libero playing time will feature Ethan Cooke (James Byrnes HS), Brady Gilmore (Boiling Springs HS) and Austyn Turley (Dorman HS).
Nieves and Cox look to be two of the team's bigger servers.

Now Santos and his team looks to start answering some questions this week.

"How do we fit the puzzle piece together?  What does the team need to compete against a particular team."

The 2026 schedule should give the Wolves the opportunity to figure out the puzzle pieces to a successful first season.

"I feel the schedule is good for a first-year team.  Fort Valley State (18-10,SIAC champions,  NCAA Tournament team in 2025) is the game to watch.  They could be an Elite Eight, NCAA Tournament type of team.  There are a lot of opportunities for our team to grow with this schedule." 

The Wolves play their first four matches on the road before hosting Erskine in the program's first ever home match January 27^th at 6:00 p.m. at Eleazer Arena.