ST. LOUIS—A new era in NJIT men's volleyball begins in earnest Thursday night when the Highlanders open the 2105 season at Missouri Baptist.
 
The Highlander program is under new coaching leadership for the first time in nearly a decade, with Danny Goncalves coming in as the new head coach, joined by Brennon Dyer as assistant coach
 
Goncalves, formerly a star player and later head coach of the men's volleyball team at the University of New Haven in Connecticut, was announced as NJIT's new coach at the end of July 2014. Goncalves, who was raised in Connecticut and played professional volleyball in Portugal after college, has coached teams of both genders in high school, college, and at the club level, where he still competes as a player.
 
His assistant, Dyer, is from Santa Barbara, California, and played collegiately at perennial national power Hawai'i. After graduating, Dyer played professionally in Austria for two seasons before embarking on his career as a college coach in California.
 
Goncalves was named to succeed Ryan McNeil, who served as NJIT's head coach of men's volleyball from 2005 through 2014, posting a record of 10-17 overall, including 3-11 in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, last season.
 
The 2105 Highlanders have a veteran roster, with five seniors and three juniors on the 15-man squad.
 
One of the key players is also one of the younger ones, sophomore outside hitter Jabarry Goodridge, who missed the last 12 matches of his freshman season, but left a big impression, nonetheless. The native of Barbados had two matches with at least 22 kills, both in the EIVA, and a total of nine double-figure kills matches out of the 15 matches he played.
 
According to Goncalves, Goodridge is completely healed from the broken hand that cut short his rookie season. "He has been great in practice and was great in our Fall (non-traditional season) matches," said the coach. "He has a chance to be one of the top outside hitters in (the EIVA), if not the country."
 
Redshirt junior captain TJ Jurko had 10 double-figure kills matches. He came back last year after missing the 2013 season as an injury redshirt. A respected leader in the campus community, Jurko is the president of the NJIT Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. "TJ is a great captain for us," said Goncalves of his squad leader. "He helps in our attack as a hitter and passer and he is an excellent server."
 
On the opposite side, seniors Chris Kaepernick, from Germany, and Kajetan Borecki, from Poland, are vying for playing time. Kaepernick, an EIVA all-academic honoree in 2014, and Borecki, who led the 2014 team in kills, are presenting Goncalves with the type of dilemma that coaches welcome. Said Goncalves: "They are both practicing well and competing for playing time. If they keep doing that, it will give us a lot of options and help us win."
 
Another senior standout is middle Ryan Thomas, a spectacularly explosive athlete who has improved his game each season since arriving at NJIT as a freshman. "Ryan is a super dynamic player with great jumping ability and one of the strongest arms I've seen," said the coach.
 
Two other seniors will hold down key spots, with Zak Robben triggering the attack at setter and Oren Zyndorf at libero, the defensive specialist spot. "Zak has done a great job implementing what we're trying to do," said Goncalves of his two specialists. "Oren is very good on defense and has improved his work on serve reception and passing."
 
Luke Robbe, a 6-foot-8 redshirt sophomore, is making the transition to the middle after playing as a setter before this year. "Luke has shown great instincts blocking and his offense is improving," Goncalves commented. "It's great to have a 6-8 setter, but he has a very high ceiling as a middle and he has a chance to be a great player there as he gains experience."
 
Goncalves is pleased with the way his new team has received his coaching. "It could have been difficult with so many veteran players and a new coach," Goncalves commented. "But it's been a great transition and the guys have bought into what we're doing and the way we get there. Our philosophy is to try to get better at one thing every day. You can't get better at everything all at once. But they've been open to that approach and they've made an effort to do what we want and we hope that pays off in competition.
 
The competition begins in Missouri with Thursday's match at Missouri Baptist, followed by a contest on Friday at Lindenwood in St. Charles, MO. The trip continues on Sunday at 2 pm with a match at the University of Charleston in West Virginia.