2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Men's volleyball continues skid in weekend Golden Dome Classic
Robert Ezewuiro
Issue date: 2/20/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
(Feb. 24) Rutgers-Newark squared-off against George Mason Saturday evening at the Golden Dome Volleyball Classic.
The match was a quick one as George Mason swept right through R-N with a final of 3-0.
Though the final tally looks indicative of total domination, the match was actually much more competitive.
During the first game, George Mason established a comfortable lead of seven points early on, and maintained their advantage en route to a 30-24 game.
Junior Mark Burik of George Mason scored on multiple cross-court shots in the game and tallied a total of 15 kills for the match.
The next game was played much closer.
Both teams struggled to amount any significant lead on the scoreboard. The teams were usually within one or two points of each other; there were no leads greater than three points.
Late in the game, George Mason won two controversial points in a row that coerced the crowd into a collective sigh.
The first point was on a spike attempt by R-N that appeared to be tipped by a George Mason player while attempting a block. The ball was called out, and George Mason received the point.
The second point came off an "iffy" ball handling error. George Mason went on to squeak out a 30-28 victory. The third game looked promising for R-N. They jumped out to a six-point lead, and held it as late as 12-6.
However, George Mason was able to weather the storm, and quickly obliterated the deficit. The game remained close for the majority of the match, and then George Mason poured it on scoring the last four or five points and winning the game 30-24.
George Mason held the advantage in every major statistical category.
They held a 46-33 kill advantage and a 10.5 to 7.5 advantage in team blocks. George Mason's sophomore Kyle Gramit had a game-high 18 kills along with 5 assisted blocks. R-N senior Eric Honsberger and sophomore Kenny Rienekcer contributed 12 and 10 kills respectively.
The next day...
Rutgers-Newark went up against Juniata on the second night of the Golden Dome Volleyball Classic- looking to bounce back from the previous night's loss.
Before the game, senior Eric Honsberger was honored as the second player in R-N history to reach the 1,000 kill milestone. The first was his brother Brian.
Unfortunately for R-N, that was the extent of their good news as they were once again defeated 3-0, continuing their losing streak to nine games.
According to head coach Sean Byron, this rather tedious streak can be attributed to youth and inexperience. R-N leans on freshmen and sophomores to be solid contributors. Byron also mentioned inexperience as the cause of breakdowns that often occur late in close games.
Juniata controlled the game with affective play from their front line. Juniata amounted 12 team blocks, stifling the attack of R-N.
Juniata's setter Matt Werle was a key contributor, totaling two solo blocks along with three assisted blocks.
Their attackers scored 48 kills against R-N, led by Nate Ocasio and Matt Frizz; both recording 12 kills. R-N played from behind in all three games.
In games two and three, R-N showed glimpses of resiliency, but they were never able to completely climb over the hill. Juniata went on to win 30-21, 30-24, 30-24.
R-N's sophomore Kenny Rienekcer turned in a solid game, contributing a game-high 13 kills. He was the only R-N player selected to the All-Classic team.
The next game...
R-N looks for revenge against No. 8 -nationally ranked Ohio State (14-1) whom they lost to 3-0 a month ago. OSU has blanked their competition 3-0 nine of fourteen times.
Byron expects his players to be very competitive against OSU, seeing how the first two games of the match against them- they lost by a close 30-28.
Ohio State was the recipient of a favorable bounce when the winning serve of the second game hit the net.
R-N is looking forward to a couple favorable bounces of their own in hopes of ending this current skid.
The match was a quick one as George Mason swept right through R-N with a final of 3-0.
Though the final tally looks indicative of total domination, the match was actually much more competitive.
During the first game, George Mason established a comfortable lead of seven points early on, and maintained their advantage en route to a 30-24 game.
Junior Mark Burik of George Mason scored on multiple cross-court shots in the game and tallied a total of 15 kills for the match.
The next game was played much closer.
Both teams struggled to amount any significant lead on the scoreboard. The teams were usually within one or two points of each other; there were no leads greater than three points.
Late in the game, George Mason won two controversial points in a row that coerced the crowd into a collective sigh.
The first point was on a spike attempt by R-N that appeared to be tipped by a George Mason player while attempting a block. The ball was called out, and George Mason received the point.
The second point came off an "iffy" ball handling error. George Mason went on to squeak out a 30-28 victory. The third game looked promising for R-N. They jumped out to a six-point lead, and held it as late as 12-6.
However, George Mason was able to weather the storm, and quickly obliterated the deficit. The game remained close for the majority of the match, and then George Mason poured it on scoring the last four or five points and winning the game 30-24.
George Mason held the advantage in every major statistical category.
They held a 46-33 kill advantage and a 10.5 to 7.5 advantage in team blocks. George Mason's sophomore Kyle Gramit had a game-high 18 kills along with 5 assisted blocks. R-N senior Eric Honsberger and sophomore Kenny Rienekcer contributed 12 and 10 kills respectively.
The next day...
Rutgers-Newark went up against Juniata on the second night of the Golden Dome Volleyball Classic- looking to bounce back from the previous night's loss.
Before the game, senior Eric Honsberger was honored as the second player in R-N history to reach the 1,000 kill milestone. The first was his brother Brian.
Unfortunately for R-N, that was the extent of their good news as they were once again defeated 3-0, continuing their losing streak to nine games.
According to head coach Sean Byron, this rather tedious streak can be attributed to youth and inexperience. R-N leans on freshmen and sophomores to be solid contributors. Byron also mentioned inexperience as the cause of breakdowns that often occur late in close games.
Juniata controlled the game with affective play from their front line. Juniata amounted 12 team blocks, stifling the attack of R-N.
Juniata's setter Matt Werle was a key contributor, totaling two solo blocks along with three assisted blocks.
Their attackers scored 48 kills against R-N, led by Nate Ocasio and Matt Frizz; both recording 12 kills. R-N played from behind in all three games.
In games two and three, R-N showed glimpses of resiliency, but they were never able to completely climb over the hill. Juniata went on to win 30-21, 30-24, 30-24.
R-N's sophomore Kenny Rienekcer turned in a solid game, contributing a game-high 13 kills. He was the only R-N player selected to the All-Classic team.
The next game...
R-N looks for revenge against No. 8 -nationally ranked Ohio State (14-1) whom they lost to 3-0 a month ago. OSU has blanked their competition 3-0 nine of fourteen times.
Byron expects his players to be very competitive against OSU, seeing how the first two games of the match against them- they lost by a close 30-28.
Ohio State was the recipient of a favorable bounce when the winning serve of the second game hit the net.
R-N is looking forward to a couple favorable bounces of their own in hopes of ending this current skid.
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