Last Updated: February 25, 2009
Carlos Ducos enters his second season as assistant men’s volleyball coach at New Jersey City University in 2009. NJCU went a respectable 14-17 in his first year, starting as many as five rookies in each match.
A May 2008 graduate of NJCU with a degree in Business Administration with a Marketing concentration, Ducos gained valuable coaching experience as a volunteer at his alma mater, Passaic High School, in 2007, prior to joining former teammate Carlo Edra on the NJCU staff.
Ducos and Edra, who during their playing days were given the nickname “C-Squared” due to their similar first names, have continued to display the chemistry they had on the court as the coaching leaders of the program.
Of his assistant coach, Edra said: "Carlos is the perfect person to have on my coaching staff. When we were still playing, Carlos and I had amazing chemistry together. I would always get excited when he would get a big kill and he would be the first person to say something whenever I got a big dig. And that's basically how it is while we're coaching. Whenever I miss something, Carlos will point it out. When I make a good coaching decision, or when he has an idea that eventually works, we slap each other high-fives just like the good ole days."
A three-year player for the Gothic Knights from 2004-06, the two-year starting outside hitter was part of a group that went a combined 55-41 (.573), winning 20 matches twice. He was co-captain as a senior in 2006.
After going 13-18 in 2004, the club won 22 matches his junior season in 2005, finishing 22-14 (.611), while advancing to the ECAC Tournament for the first time. In 2006, NJCU went 20-9 (.690), qualified for the NECVA Tournament as the 10th seed, and reached the ECAC finals for the first time. NJCU was ranked as high as #14 in the nation during the season and won the 12th annual Gothic Knight Invitational.
In three years, he played in 81 matches and 255 games, tallying 694.0 points, 582 kills, 211 digs, 87 blocks, including 23 solo, along with 57 aces and 13 assists. He had a career .255 hitting percentage (582-246-1316). At the conclusion of his career, he ranked 13th in school history in kills, 16th in points, 21st in aces, 26th in total blocks and 30th in digs. Overall, he averaged 2.72 points, 2.28 kills, 0.83 digs, 0.34 blocks and 0.22 aces per set in three seasons.
In his first year with the team in 2004, he had 96 kills, 66 digs and 22 aces before emerging as a starter and standout in his junior season. That year, he posted a career-best 302 kills and averaged 3.34 points and 2.85 kills per game in 31 matches. He added 91 digs and 47 blocks for the season, and amassed a .308 hitting percentage. He posted a .818 hitting percentage with nine kills (9-0-11) in a win against Lehman College that same day. Ducos finished the year ranked 32nd in the NECVA in hitting percentage and 47th in kills per game.
As a senior in 2006, he battled injuries that forced him to miss 10 matches, yet still had his highest points and kills per set averages, pounding out 3.69 and 3.12 per set, respectively. For the year, he totaled 184 kills, 54 digs and 33 blocks, playing in 19 contests. He was named NJCU Men’s Athlete of the Week on April 10, 2006. Ducos ranked 43rd in the conference in kills and 50th in points.
In three seasons, he reached double figures in kills 27 times, including nine matches with at least 15, and one double-double. He had a career-high 20 kills in a win over Medgar Evers College on February 19, 2005.
Prior to attending NJCU, he enrolled at Rutgers University-Camden and Devry Institute in the 2001-02 year before transferring to Jersey City in 2003-04.
A 2001 graduate of Passaic High School, he was a four-year varsity boys volleyball player for the Indians, under coaches Sue Vizuette and Angelo Gomez, and also played two seasons of soccer. In volleyball, he was a Second-Team All-State and All-Area selection, while earning First-Team All-Passaic County and All-League honors. PHS reached three county tournaments behind him and Ducos finished his career as the school’s all-time leader in kills with more than 700.
Born May 22, 1983 in Wayne, NJ, Ducos is married to former NJCU women’s volleyball standout Nadia DaSilva. During a four-year career from 2004-07 as the Knights’ starting setter, she set a school record with 2,677 assists and was part of the 2006 New Jersey Athletic Conference championship team and three-time conference finalists. The couple resides in Newark, NJ.
