One in a million. Those were the odds against this current Kingsmen volleyball roster coming into existence.

Consider Michael Stahl, who almost gave up the game before landing at Moorpark College and catching the eye of head coach Kevin Judd. Or Jordan Cooper, who in 2023 was playing 3,000 miles away at Long Island University. Or Borys Horiuk, whose family left Ukraine in 2017 in search of a better life for him and his brother. Or Ben Weber, who arrived at Cal Lutheran the same year a global pandemic brought the world to a standstill.

That all these pieces would converge at the same time and at the same small Southern California university is a mind-boggling confluence, the results of which reshaped the Kingsmen record books and put Cal Lutheran volleyball on the map. Though the team fell short of its goal of repeating as national champions, losing in straight sets to Springfield College in the Final Four of the Division III NCAA Tournament, its impact on Cal Lutheran and the men's volleyball program will resonate for years.

"This entire time they've been disrespected by all the different mathematical formulas … by the critics, those who said Cal Lutheran has a 2% chance to win," head coach Kevin Judd said. "The guys were ready to prove everybody wrong... and I think they did." 

Falling into place

It's Judd who put the pieces together, starting with his decision to recruit Weber, the team's linchpin. A proven winner in high school, Weber looked past the fact that Cal Lutheran is a program without a conference, requiring players to travel extensively for competition (130 of 132 Division III programs are located east of the Mississippi). The Santa Margarita native then endured an abbreviated 2021 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, where the Kingsmen played a mere two matches, both against the now-defunct University of Saint Katherine, a small private college in San Marcos.

"Ben is one of those athletes, as a coach, you want all of your athletes to be like," Judd said. "One of the most frustrating things as a coach is to give instruction to a player and have them say 'I know.' … With Ben Weber, in five years working with him, I never heard that once. His response was always, 'Yes, coach.' I've never had that in all my years coaching. He's such a great young man." 

The wins started in 2022 with the arrival of two high school teammates, setter Taylor Marks and middle blocker Horiuk. The Kingsmen finished 17-9. Weber, then a sophomore, led the squad in kills; Horiuk, in blocks. 

After upping the ante to 18 wins in 2023 and not being invited to the NCAA Tournament, Cal Lutheran added nitro to its high-speed rise with the additions of Cooper and Stahl in 2024. Both were upperclassmen who'd made runs at Division I schools and weren't happy with the results.

In Thousand Oaks, they became overnight stars. 

"Things didn't pan out the way they wanted at those other schools, so they decided to take a look at Cal Lu, and they both thrived and made names for themselves here and made memories they'll never forget," Judd said. 

Beyond skill, Stahl exudes gratitude. After a frustrating experience at a Division I school in San Diego, he almost decided to give up volleyball altogether.

"Honestly, I've had the most fun I've ever had playing," the Northridge native said. "Man, just being able to compete at this level, at a high level … It's been a lot of fun and I'm really appreciative of all these guys and Coach Judd and all the other coaching staff."

With Marks delivering pinpoint passes to Cooper, Stahl and Weber, and Horiuk dominating the middle, the Kingsmen took the Division III world by storm. They finished the season 26-5 and won a national championship despite entering the postseason unranked. Their path to victory included a remarkable comeback from a two-set deficit in the semifinals against East Coast powerhouse Stevens Institute and a dominant 3-0 sweep of Vassar College in the title match.

Horiuk, who was raised on a farm in western Ukraine, described the experience as "a lot of fun."

"We didn't really know what to expect. It was something new for all of us, including for Judd," Horiuk said. "But once we won, coming back home, and everyone at the university supporting us and cheering for us, it was really exciting."

Change of plans

The 2025 Kingsmen were poised for another dominant season with five of six starters returning. However, their plans were disrupted when Marks transferred out. Despite the return of Weber, Stahl, Cooper, Horiuk and Parker Brown, who had contributed 90 kills the previous year, coaches ranked Cal Lutheran outside the top 5 to begin the season. 

It was a slight players couldn't ignore. 

"We knew what we had," Cooper said. "We knew coming into the year that we could play at a national championship level. With the loss of Taylor, everybody just had to raise the level of their game, and that's what we did."

When the season began in January, it became clear the Kingsmen had all they needed to succeed. Freshmen Keaton Hendry and Gavin Galanski filled in admirably at setter; Brown and sophomore Matthew Wilcox added firepower; and transfer Braden Gonzales, a libero, immediately became the team's best defender. 

Gonzales, a Thousand Oaks High School grad, had spent two seasons at Springfield College before deciding to play closer to home. A coach for the Lava West Volleyball Club, the junior became an example for younger players, making up for what he lacks in height in quickness, ball control and tenacity. 

"It is so incredible to see how much court he can take," Cooper said of Gonzales. "The amount of plays where we were like, there's no way he's going to get that ball … and then he makes it happen. It's like a whole different level."

Rather than fold under the pressure of having to replace an All-American, Hendry and Galanski rose to the occasion - and even thrived for stretches - aided by their veteran teammates. 

"When we make a mistake, it gets covered up pretty well," Galanski said before the title game. "It makes our job so much easier getting to play with All-Americans on our team, with national champions. Taylor was an amazing setter, but these guys are not knock-off hitters."

Added Hendry: "Every game one of them is going to be on fire, so you just have to be ready to find that player and put them in the best situation possible."

In the pursuit of building chemistry, Galanski and Hendry, both 18 when the season began, had the added challenge of overcoming a notable age gap. Cooper, for example, is 23. Weber is 22.

"I think it was like an older brother mentality," Hendry said. "Both (Gavin and I) have older brothers so we know what it's like. We've had our share of getting picked on, but we can both dish it back pretty well. So it was a good time."

While the Kingsmen believed in themselves, the same can't be said for the coaches in the American Volleyball Coaches Association, which consistently ranked them between 7th and 15th in the country all season.

"We definitely had a chip on our shoulder coming into the tournament," Stahl said.

Biting the Big Apple

If one win defined this group of Kingsmen, it was the team's quarterfinal victory over top-ranked and previously undefeated NYU. 

For starters, it was another long road trip, this time to New York City. To make matters worse, it was a home game for NYU. From the opening serve, the heavily pro-NYU crowd let the Kingsmen know they'd be playing in unfriendly confines. Yet Weber and company were undeterred. 

"It's what we're used to," Weber said after the match. "We're used to playing in other people's gyms. We're used to big crowds rooting against us."

After dropping the first set, the Kingsmen started fast in the second and never looked back, winning 3-1. Cooper ended the match with one of his patented thunderous serves, quieting the crowd for good. 

Stahl, the defending tournament MVP, finished with a team-high 18 kills; Cooper contributed 14 and Weber 11. Horiuk collected three blocks and Gonzales posted a team-high 16 digs.

This was the kind of win Kingsmen fans have gotten used to. 

Judd - still smarting from the April 25 semifinal loss to Springfield - acknowledged this week that the Kingsmen's recent success won't be easy to repeat. While he'll get back Gonzales, Hendry, Galanski, Wilcox and several other talented contributors, the big four, barring something unforeseen, have all expended the last of their eligibility. 

"Jordan Cooper and Michael Stahl, having a couple of guys like that come into your program and put up numbers like that, they had a big hand in this," Judd said. "Their skill sets have really put us on the map and helped get us to this level."

The veteran coach said now the responsibility falls to him to "try and convince kids in our neck of the woods who play at that type of level to come to Cal Lutheran to try and be the next Michael Stahl or Jordan Cooper."

"It's a hard sell," Judd said. "The top players out here all have aspirations of being DI athletes. So did Mike and Jordan. But what I say to them is, 'Do you want to be the 18th guy on a DI roster or do you want to be 'the guy,' get to this stage, and stay at this level?" 

"Mike and Jordan have certainly shown what's possible."