Marist head volleyball coach Tom Hanna announced the Red Foxes’ 2008 schedule last week. The Red Foxes will start their 31-match slate on Aug. 29 at the Duquesne/Robert Morris Invitational against co-host Duquesne. Marist will play its home opener on Sept. 2 against Army, who finished second in the Patriot League last season.
The Red Foxes will also take on St. Francis (PA), Robert Morris and Lehigh at the Duquesne/Robert Morris Invitational on Aug. 29-30. After taking on the Black Knights of Army, Marist will travel south to High Point, N.C. to play in the High Point University Classic on Sept. 5-6. There the Red Foxes will take on UNC-Greensboro, which reached the Southern Conference tournament final in 2007, as well as South Carolina State, East Carolina and the host Panthers.
The next weekend Marist will take on Lafayette, Coppin State and Lehigh in the Crosstown Tournament, hosted by both Lafayette and Lehigh. The Red Foxes return home Sept. 16 for a 7 p.m. match against America East foe Hartford.
The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference schedule starts on Sept. 20 when Marist travels to Niagara, taking on Canisius the next day. Marist’s first home MAAC match takes place on Sept. 25 when Fairfield comes to the McCann Center for a 7 p.m. match.
Marist will have a four-match homestand starting on Oct. 25 when Canisius comes to the McCann Center. The Red Foxes will also host Niagara, Loyola and Iona during that stretch. The 2008 MAAC Volleyball Championships will take place on Nov. 22 and 23 at Siena. The Saints have won the last three MAAC volleyball tournaments.
Vassar cross-country to kick off season
By virtue of hosting Vassar’s first intercollegiate home event on Sept. 6, the men’s and women’s cross country teams hold the honor of kicking off the fall athletics season for the college.
As usual, the fall has the largest number of teams in competitive action, a bakers dozen to be exact, highlighted by the opening of refurbished Prentiss Field. The $8.3 million project features, among other things, brand new fields for both soccer teams and field hockey. The cross-country teams will have a new venue for the annual VC Invitational, the Vassar Farm.
In addition to a new course, the men’s team will start the invitational first, at an earlier time of 11 a.m., followed by the women’s race at noon. Normally, the opening weekend of competition is loaded with many events, but the full slate of home events doesn’t materialize until the following weekend, Sept. 13, when women’s field hockey hosts the annual Betty Richey Field Hockey Tournament, and field sports such as women’s soccer and rugby open their home seasons.
Women’s volleyball will already have five matches completed by Sept. 13 when the Brewers host a tri-match at Kenyon Hall. All fall teams have their 2008 schedules posted online at www.vassar.edu, and they can be viewed s by clicking the link associated with a particular team on the left side navigational bar.
Brewers Katz and Willner earn ITA All-American honors
Good things happen to those who are patient, and for Vassar College freshmen Greg Katz and Max Willner, the wait was certainly worth it.
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) recently announced that Katz (Baldwin) and Willner (Bronx) were named to the 2008 ITA Division III Men’s All-American Team. The doubles pair, who captured the Wilson/ITA Northeast Regional Championship on Sept. 30 with an 8-5 victory over Rochester’s Brian Bowman and Ryan Kovaleski, were among 31 doubles players representing 15 different institutions.
The regional ITA championship propelled Katz and Willner to the ITA National Small College Championships presented by the USTA, where they competed at the Mobile (Alabama) Tennis Center on Oct. 11-14. The doubles tandem made history when winning the ITA championship on the Vassar courts. For the first time in men’s tennis history, the Brewers had a Wilson/ITA Northeast Champion and a participant in the ITA National Championships. What made the story even more fascinating was the achievement of two freshmen players who got better and better as the season progressed. Both Katz and Willner, who had a 17-1 record as doubles partners at the No. 1 spot, ended their inaugural season with impressive Liberty League honors.
In addition to being named to the All-League Singles Team, Willner was named the League’s Rookie of the Year.
He held down the No. 2 singles spot this past year, where he compiled an 18-8 record in singles and was ranked No. 23 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Region. He won every single meeting against a Liberty League opponent and easily defeated Skidmore’s No. 1 player Carl-Eric Girardin, the League’s Player of the Year, in their only matchup, 6-2, 6-2. Willner finished the year strong, winning in 15 of his final 19 matches, and was honored as Rookie of the Week on three occasions and Player of the Week once.
Joining Willner on the All-Conference singles team was his fellow freshman and doubles teammate Katz. The southpaw player built an 18-8 record at the No. 3 singles slot and showed significant improvement as the year progressed, winning 13 of his last 18 matches. He was named Rookie of the Week and Player of the Week on separate occasions on his way to going undefeated in Liberty League play.
The men’s tennis team will open its 2008-09 season on Sept. 17 with a home match against New York University.