Garden Empire Volleyball Association

Big Willy's (Men's A)

Big Willy's set out to San Jose to conclude a season which saw us win 16 out of 18 tournaments. We only lost to SAPA in a rally final and to an "AA" team from Maryland in the semis (in rally also).

A few of us got there early and saw San Francisco, Stanford University and the local sites. We started pool play on Wednesday and finished on Thursday with a 5-1 record. We came out seeded 4TH out of 36 teams.

In the gold division double elimination bracket we drew Del Fuego of Alabama and won beating them 17-15 and 15-0. We then played Farm Animals out of Boston and lost, going to the losers bracket by the scores of 10-15 15-11 14-16. Once in the losers bracket we knocked off Chicago Coast 15-10 and 15-10. We then played a late evening match with Ethnicks , also from Chicago. With a highly partisan crowd from Chicago cheering them on, we played our best match, beating them decisively 15-0 and 15-7.We then drew North Shore VBC the next morning and lost another close match in rally. The scores were 8-15 and 15-9 and 16-14.We finished 5th out of 36 teams.

Overall I think we were disappointed in our finish but we only lost to the 1st, 2nd , and 3rd place teams and each time it was in rally by TWO POINTS. .

DIGS Junior Girls (Junior Girls)

The Junior National Championships in New Orleans was an experience our team will never forget. The high level of volleyball, sightseeing, culture and food combined to make our trip not only unforgettable but also extremely fun.

The New Orleans Convention Center was, by far, the largest place we have ever played in. We had to walk a fair distance everyday just to get to the other side of the Center, were the Tournament was held. Needing a special pass to enter, we walked in through the players and coaches only entrance. We knew the competition there was going to be stronger then any we have met before. There were teams from all over the country, California, Texas, Arizona, Kentucky, Illinois and many more. At first it was difficult to get used to an elite level of play which we hardly see on the East Coast. Though by the second pool we had gotten in the swing of things placing third in the pool. On the third day we worked even harder and were undefeated in our pool. All in all we played well, placing about 40th out of sixty-four teams.

Going out and seeing the city of New Orleans also made our trip unforgettable. The first thing we noticed about New Orleans was we couldn't find it, even though we were right in the middle of it. Being very familiar with New York City and its tall skyscrapers, it was hard to consider New Orleans a city without having numerous skyscrapers. Playing in the afternoon wave gave us time to see the city in the mornings. We went on a paddleboat tour up the Mississippi one day. Another day we went to the Aquarium and Imax Theater. Keeping up our tradition of going to a haunted house on all of our away tournaments, we went on a haunted house tour. This tour was unlike anything we have ever done before. It wasn't a fun house where people jump out at you; these were 'real' ghost stories and 'real' hauntings. On our last day we went to the French Quarter. The stereotypes were true, the French Quarter was an alive and jumping part of New Orleans.

The culture in New Orleans made our experience complete. The people of New Orleans were very nice to out-of-towners, especially those who wore spandex. Everywhere we went people asked us, "Are y'all the Volleybaw team?" Though we couldn't figure out what they were saying most of the time because of their thick accents. Seeing the Spanish and French style buildings and trolleys added to our cultural experience at the Junior National Championships.

New Orleans' Cajun food also made our trip unforgettable. We were not used to so much spicy food or the jambalaya that came with every meal. Some of us tried alligator and crawfish for the first time. One Cajun restaurant we will never forget is Michual's. We not only experienced authentic Cajun food at Michual's but we learned the Cajun 3-step and line dance. Being from the New York area, we could not stay off the dance floor. Some nights we tried to take a break from Cajun food but it was everywhere, even the McDonald's had a touch of Cajun.

The last thing that made our trip unforgettable was watching the US National Team play. Our whole team was thrilled to be able to watch such a high level of play up close and personal. What made us even more excited was when we found out the team would be signing autographs after the game.

In conclusion, the Junior National Championship in New Orleans was an unforgettable experience that would not have been possible without the support of our sponsors, our coaches, James Foo and Teresa Taylor and the parents. We owe them one big thank you. The high level of volleyball, sightseeing, culture and food combined to make our trip extremely fun and absolutely unforgettable. We strongly recommend all GEVA teams who qualify for the Nationals to definitely attend; it will be the best volleyball experience of your life.

Downstate (Women's BB)

If you think you can, you can. That was what we said in the huddle of our first game Tuesday morning, the last day of the tournament after we had played a marathon day of games on Monday. The message was from a fortune cookie from the Chinese food that we demolished after playing straight Monday from 11:45 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. without eating anything but popcorn, water and Bonnie's special pretzel/chocolate/PB chip mix. Ever since we went to Holyoke in 1995, we've been hooked. We've been to every BB Nationals except Tucson and we really wanted to go again. We were so disappointed that we didn't go last year that we started singing the Dion Warwick song in April of 1998: Whoa Whoa Whoa Whoa Whoa Whoa Whoa Whoa Whoa Whoa. In addition, we have players who are talking about starting families and we thought that this may be our last opportunity to go together. I still remember the practice where all of us, Marina Ciotti, Anne Harmon, Bonnie Brosgol, Lori Morton, Joanne Blackwell and I finally agreed to go. There was an immediate excitement and energy in the air. A special thanks to Lori who kept pushing that we should go and Joanne who made it possible. We already knew that Linda Lehr and Ellen Axelson from Livingston were willing to go with us. So, late in the season, we were going and we were pumped. For those of you who have never gone, the excitement keeps building. The practices, the flight with some of your closest friends and other players from the GEVA region, the drive to the hotel where you're checking out a new place you've never been to before, arriving at the hotel and finding that the average height in the hotel is about 6'3" (including the men and women), showing up the first day at the convention center and seeing over 25 nets in the same building with a nice high ceiling all builds to playing teams you've never played before.

We got lots of support too. Synchronicity, our sister team, sent us messages with their picture wishing us luck. So did the players from our club not going to San Jose. Some of them sent us messages and some of them scrimmaged against us. Westchester A and some people playing in the Master's divisions came to our practices and drilled and scrimmaged against us. Westchester was the best (including their coach, Vinnie). Every game we played they came to watch. They would cheer and be supportive and they were wonderful. So did Jacques Benoit. Our former coach, Herb Sleigh, Drove over 6 hours from Brea, California, to watch and help us. Roman Adrianowycz, our club leader, was at most of our games and also was supportive and cheered us on. Even other players from the GEVA including people from Parsippany (men and women), the Turner's, Serve-Ace-A (who didn't use that name at Nationals and confused us a little bit), Last Call, Creole and the Warren Master's teams would come and cheer; it was nice to play for a little crowd. One of the funniest times was when we were playing on a court adjacent to a Men's AA match on the third day. Since it's a double elimination tournament by that point, there are only a few teams left. The courts are really close and there must have been about 200 people watching that match. They kept drifting onto our court and the referee had to keep asking them to push back. So there are these people facing one way and our lone fan, Erik Waters, was facing our way. He was a great fan. He was at all our games that weren't the same time as Knick games.

When you ask two players from another team to play with you, it's a crap shoot. You know that they are skilled but you don't know how they will fit in chemistry wise. Ellen and Linda were AWESOME. Positive, energetic, funny, supportive, spirited and team-minded, it was a great fit. And, they taught us about fortune cookie charades (do you know that it's very difficult to charade "coming", "profit" and "advice (plus-lice)"?). It was always comfortable playing next to them on the court. I bet Ellen Law would be really upset if we tried to steal them for next year's regular season.

Although we were first very disappointed that we made the Bronze Division, we made it our goal to win it. We told the others with us that had never "medaled" that we wanted to be in the line at the end, where they announce your number and name and you get a special handshake from some higher up person, and they put the medal around your neck and people applaud and take your picture and award the captain the trophy even if it was in the Bronze Division. That became more difficult when we lost our first round of double elimination and wound up in the Loser's Bracket. In typical Downstate, we like to do it the hard way we played 33 games and wound up winning the Bronze Division. It was particularly satisfying knocking out of the tournament, the team that knocked us in to the loser's bracket to begin with during the semi-finals. In the finals, we won in two games and then we had to beat them again in a one game final since we each had one loss. Our blocking, which was a strong point during the regular season, was not as good at Nationals. But, during that last day of the tournament, our blocking was tremendous. We got our serves in. We played great defense. In our pre-game huddle we did our Knicks cheer, "Let's go Knicks" or "Go NEW YORK, Go NEW YORK, Go New York, GO" three times and the whole convention center could hear us. I still can't believe they beat Miami.

East Shore (Men's BB)

Playing volleyball in a national tournament is amazing for someone who loves to play volleyball. But even as a fan or as someone who is injured, the National Tournament is an experience that is definitely worth the trip. It is very hard to be on the sideline, cheering on your team, as an injured player, unable to go into the game and help your team out physically. At the same time, being on the sideline, you see a lot more than you do when you are on the court playing.

You can witness a lot more while watching from the side. You can help your teammates by letting them know things that they are unable to concentrate on while playing on the court: The weaknesses of the opponents and little things that we are doing wrong, that can be fixed to make the play of the team better. Our team, East Shore did well in the National Tournament on the BB Level. Our team consisted of Arvin Rada, Tom McGuire, Yan Lager, Don Vanderbeck, Brett Killman, Frank Motundo and Dave Hylton. The players on the team did very well individually and they played together as a team. East Shore did very well in Pool Play, coming out first in the pool with a record of 6-0. When playoffs came, the only downfall we had, was the lack of substitutes. We only had 6 active players, so that made things rough. Although there were breaks during the days, playing all the time did take its toll on the team members. One thing that was very consistent throughout the tournament was our defense. Everyone made a lot of good defensive moves. Opponents always disliked that about our team, because we do pick up a lot of balls. East Shore was tied for 9th place in the Gold Bracket of Men's BB.

San Jose, California, was a good place to be, especially on vacation. We were only 45 minutes away from San Francisco. Our team took advantage of that fact. We walked around Downtown San Francisco. We saw plenty of great sites, and took lots of pictures. We went to Fisherman's Wharf and had a great dinner at Bubba Gump's Restaurant. There were plenty of shops and things to do. We also went down to Santa Cruz, which was only 45 minutes away from San Jose, going south. We saw the beach and the Pacific waters, and had a great time. One of our team members had family in Palo Alto. They had a BBQ for our team to celebrate our achievements. Overall, all of us enjoyed the West Coast, and being a part of the 1999 U.S. Open Volleyball Tournament.

Ensemble (Women's B)

Repeating their pattern of improvement, Ensemble's third trip to the Nationals proved their best, as they finished 11th out of 16 teams, with a match record of 3 and 6 and a game record of 7 wins, 13 losses. Taking "Dig This", a team that lost in the semi-finals, to three games, and losing the first game of their last match by a score of 16-14, Ensemble proved capable of hanging tough with the national competition. Never squashed, their toughest losses were against Number 2 Flora Bama 15-7, l5-6 and Number 4 Dig This 17-15, 7-l5, 8-l5.

Ensemble again combined pleasure with play as they toured Yosemite National Park prior to the tournament. All was not hunky dory, however, as they resorted to police assistance on both coasts. In the hills of gold country one player was apparently lost in search of Beanie Babies and not gold, and in the flats of Flemington, one players' son was apparently lost in search of riches from the sale of Poke Mon. The team wiled away the anxious moments with Trivial Pursuit and pie-eating, table-dancing contests, maintaining calm if not composure.

From biking to hiking to hitting, and from horseback riding to rafting to rooting (North Shore and the other fantastic teams), Ensemble had a truly memorable Nationals experience. Next time, however, they will take their tourist trip after the tournament, for though Amy Kavanaugh conquered Half Dome, Half Dome conquered the hamstring of sometimes-sidelined Leslie Van Dorn.

LIBA 15-1 (Junior Girls 15s)

As it was last year in Texas, this year's Junior Olympics in New Orleans was a very exciting trip. With the abundant amount of playing time and the many things to do, there was never a dull moment. From walking to River Walk, the local mall, to venturing the very entertaining streets of New Orleans, much fun was had by all. Although, not as many as one would have thought, there were many stores whose focal point was Mardi Gras. Another similarity between JO's 98 and JO's 99, was the fierce competition. We played against girls who were six feet tall to girls who have been playing together since they were 8 years old. Nevertheless, LIBA 15-1 prevailed 2nd in our pool.

One pleasure that was granted to us, was an exhibition game between the Olympic Volleyball teams of Japan and USA . The two well-matched teams played in a way, all volleyball games will be played in the future. That is, all games in a match are 25 point rally games and you switch sides at 13. The final score was 25-17, USA coming out victorious.

Aside from the very tight rooming conditions, everyone had a momentous amount of fun. New Orleans made for a very pleasurable and memorable trip.

LIBA 16-1 (Junior Girls 16s)

LIBA 16-1 was very proud to represent GEVA at this years Junior National Volleyball Championship held in New Orleans. Head coach Chis Riley and Asst. coach Rony Gilot had worked vey hard all year to have LIBA 16-1 achieve their goal. The team Consisted of Betsy Baydala, Jessica Levy, Danielle Mac Knight, Dara Pallato, Susan Porzelt, Doretta Rafio, Krysea Sheen, Danielle Skehan, Shannon Smith, Shannon Verity, Jacquie Wicks, and Christina Wildes. Unfortunatley in New Orleans the team got off to a slow start after such strong play in the Sports Performance tournament in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend. As the matches went on the team got stronger beating Mass Patriots, Club Davis Utah, and Quick Silver San Jose, CA. With the three victories, five of ten matches went into rally. Overall the year was very successful and the girls hope to come back stronger than ever next year at The Nationals.

Long Island United 16-1 (Junior Boys 16s)

The 1999 GEVA 16 & under championship team competed in the Junior Olympics held in New Orleans, LA and finished 12th in the 16 open division. "We played every team competitively and were never swept. Every match went to rally", said team captain Donnie Mace. "Sometimes we would establish either a lead, momentum, or consistency and then other times it would be the exact opposite. We go on and eliminate Team Fresno (originally seeded 8th) from the gold and then have to play Outrigger from Hawaii, a team who we beat earlier in the tournament, and then Outrigger goes on to eliminate us. The tournament wa exactly like that - never underestimating opponents or looking beyond the team."

According to LIU's setter Ryan Hegarty, "at this level it's all about who is bigger at the net and who can side-out. Some of these teams were very impressive for consisting of 16 & under athletes." Coach Laura Einsidler agrees. "We gave teams a run for the money by overachieving to the level the opponent played at. Every year the JO's are better and better with the level of play and number of teams participating, I hope USA V can continue this trend right into the millennium and beyond." The LIU 16-1 roster includes captains Donnie Mace & Kevin Kennedy (Commack), Vinny Taurassi & Greg Terebetski (Smithtown), Ryan Hegarty & Chris Coster (Shoreham Wading River), Matt Einsidler (HHH), Adam Schwartz (East Meadow), Joe Dente (Commack), Chris Harkins (Mempham), and Matt Robbins (Ward Melville).

Long Island United 16-2 (Junior Boys 16s)

Although they may have been this year's finalist team at the 1999 GEVA regional, the LIU 16-2's have accomplished more improvements as a team and individuals then any team LIU has done so in the past. Program director, Roger Peluso complements their coaches, Craig Berko and Mike Legge. "I have worked with Craig throughout his high school playing years and just recently worked with Mike in the fall. I knew these were the type of educators LIU needed, and I couldn't have been any more correct." Coach Berko reminded his team time and time again about having patients and as they matured as athletes, so would their game. "It was a reward in itself to see these kids improve throughout the year. I already look forward to next year and the opportunity to work with them again".

The LIU 16-2's finished 3rd in the silver bracket at the East Coast Championships, 3rd in Maryland, 1st in Connecticut, and 5th at the Junior Olympics in New Orleans, LA (16 Club Division). Pat Legge (Smithtown) and Jason Karpf (Sachem) were both honored as All-America's 16 Club for their performances at this years Junior Olympics. Rounding off the LIU 16-2 roster are Mike LaRocco (Smithtown), Kevin Calabro (Smithtown), Tim O'Reilly (Smithtown), Steven D'Orazio (Smithtown), Mark Nagy (Shoreham Wading River), Brian Osipowich (Sachem), Gary Stack (Sachem), Will Vigliotta (Center Moriches), Peter Amadeo (Hauppauge), and Joe Graeber (Southampton).

Long Island United 18-1 (Junior Boys 18s)

After capturing the 1999 GEVA regional title in the 18's division, the Long Island United 18 -1's finished 9th place in the 18 Club Division at this year's Junior Olympics held in New Orleans, LA. Although the finish was a little disappointing, the highlight of the tournament was seeing an East Coast Team from New York in the finals of the 18 Gold Division (Pace Bootlegger of Rochester, NY) and when Stuart Katz of the LIU 18-1's was announced to the 1999 All-America Team. "The award is very nice, but I really owe my recognition to my setter and captain, Dan O'Shea. Without him, we would be no where. I thank him all the time for having the confidence in a sophomore playing up on the 18's, to put the ball away as many times as he relies on me. I also wish our team would have finished higher, but that goes without saying I'm sure, for many players and teams?", say's Katz. "I didn't even hear my name announced as we were all so involved in the finals and pulling for Pace. Unfortunately they didn't win, but just seeing another team in the final aside form California was all the more worth it." "I think the fact that a non-Californian team was in the final will make all of us East Coast teams work hard at repeating this feat, every year at the JO's, accomplished by Pace. I hope this will start the wave of recognition many of us East Coast teams deserve".

Stuart Katz (Port Washington) is joined by graduating senior team mates, Dan O'Shea (Walt Whitman) who will be playing volleyball for NYU in the fall. Norman Keil (Smithtown), who was recently named to volleyball magazines "Fab 50" list of the top high school volleyball player's in the country and will be playing volleyball for Penn State, Peter Laudicina (Smithtown) who will be attending James Madison on a basketball scholarship, Kevin Byrnes (Smithtown) playing club volleyball for the University of Maryland, and Andy Korin (Commack), who will be playing club volleyball for Lehigh. Rounding off the roster are Junior Bryan Baebler (Carey), Erik Lanham (Center Moriches), Andrew Cruz (Westhampton), Chris Horsford (Westhampton), Craig Goldschmidt (Smithtown), and Chris Garrick (Smithtown).

GEVA athletes were well represented in other volleyball related venues. Stuart Katz (LIU 18-1's) and Mark Nagy (LIU 16-2's) were selected to the 16 and under USA Volleyball Youth National Team who trained at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. This was Katz's second year selected to the team. Also joining Katz at this year's New York Empire State Games on the scholastic men's volleyball team were Bryan Baebler, Erik Lanham, and Andrew Cruz. They captured a silver medal.

No Flow (Men's BB)

When I first walked into the main convention center where most of the volleyball action was going to be held, it was empty. I thought this really isn't that big of a deal. It wasn't until the following day when I saw the masses of people here to play. I was in complete awe. I have never seen that many people in one place to play volleyball. To see so many people running around was amazing. There were people from everywhere, Alaska, Hawaii, Florida, Oregon, Virginia to name a few. We also got to see a lot of familiar faces from our own region.

Our first day was going to be rough. I guess being the 51st ranked team out of 53 we were not going to get a great schedule. We had to play 4 matches on Saturday, starting at 8am. Our first match went well. We started a little slow, but picked it up and won the match. The second match proved to be tougher. We were facing a team that had placed 7th at last years Nationals. We lost a heartbreaker 18-16 in the final rally game. It was tough to lose but we knew that we could play with a lot of the teams here. The third match went over well, and we came away with a win. Our last final match was at 8:30 p.m., yes that's right twelve and a half ours from when we first began playing. We were all tired from playing all day and ended up losing. We were not happy, but we went back to the hotel to rest for up for Sun.

Sunday went a little bit better. We played at 8 am again but we played well and won making us 3-2 for the tournament. A win this afternoon would guarantee us the Silver division and with a little help maybe the Gold. Well, we didn't look pretty but we got the job done and finished at 4-2 in pool and actually made it into the Gold bracket. Trouble was we had to play some friends.

We drew Parsippany in the first round. We traveled 3000 miles just to play a team from our same region. We didn't play well and they picked up on that. The first game went by in the blink of an eye. The second we played better but we just couldn't put together a win. We were knocked into the loser's bracket. We then played a young Oregon State team. We were down in the first game but the experience of some of our veterans pulled us through with a first game win. The second turned out to be the same as the first, down looking like we were going to go to the third rally game but a few kills here and there and we won the match. Our next match was a familiar foe. It was Turners Club of New York. We played well, but they were just better then us. We ended up losing in two. Turners went on to win the double B gold division.

We started out as the 51st team and ended up finishing 11th. I think that is respectable. This was my first time to Nationals and I had a blast. I don't think I had this much fun playing volleyball in my life. Hopefully I'll see some more teams from GEVA out in Columbus for next year's Nationals.

North Shore VBC (Men's BB)

Ever since my team first starting competing in the USAV Nationals five years ago, part of the event's appeal has been its location. My team and I have always been interested in where the Nationals were going to be held as far in advance as possible so that we could figure out what we were going to do off the court on our "vacation". More than any other previous year, this year made me realize just how irrelevant the location actually is. The only thing that I remember about San Jose, is playing, eating and sleeping. Maybe it has something to do with a team's belief that they can win that forces them to be more focused than when it's "just for fun". Over the past four years, North Shore has finished 33rd, 9th, 7th, and 3rd place at the Nationals. We knew that we could win it last year, but we came up just a little short. This year, after beating Big Willy's 16-14 in the third game of the quarterfinals, we knew that anything other than the championship would be a major disappointment. We all sucked it up through the losers bracket and got our revenge against the team that had put us there, by steamrolling them in the finals. North Shore has had some players come and go over the past six years, but our core team has primarily remained in tact. Our teammates that were not able to be with us at this year's Nationals have practiced with us religiously for years. It was extremely gratifying for all of us to finally win the Men's A National title.

Parsippany Men's BB (Men's BB)

While Regionals was a bit of a disappointment, losing in rally in the semifinals to the ultimate Regional champs, Nationals turned out to be a dream come true. As a team, this was our fourth visit to Nationals. After finishing 2nd and 3rd in the silver bracket in our first two years and 13th in the gold bracket in our third year, our goal was to make the top 8 of 53 teams in this year's tournament in San Jose.

This was also the last year I would probably get to play with my two sons. I am getting older and they are getting better. There would ultimately be a time when 'dad' would be put out to pasture. Also, for the first time in four years we were able to go to Nationals with our own roster players, perhaps due to the allure of California. I think that this made it even more special. We were able to dine together and recount each day's events.

Being notoriously slow starters, this year's tournament was no exception. Being the number one seed in our pool, we started off against the number six seed. We proceeded to lose the first game and were down 0-7 in the second game. We came back to win the game and ultimately win the match in rally. We won the rest of our pool matches, only one other going to rally, and received a magical seeding within the gold bracket.

We continued to win until the final winner's bracket match, where we lost a heartbreaker in rally. While we lost convincingly in the loser's bracket finals, we all came away with a sense of accomplishment. The eight warriors had come to the brink of victory, enduring pain and injury, and come away with the 'bronze' medal in BB for 1999.

Who knows what the new millennium has in store for us all, but the memories of the 1999 BB Nationals will be with us always. The cool days and nights, breakfast and lunch at McDonalds, Joe's Steak House, trips to San Francisco.....

Parsippany Women's BB (Women's BB)

This was our 4th year participating at national's in the BB level. Our first year we won the gold which will always stay in our hearts. But with the level of play constantly becoming more competitive this year was especially rewarding for us. We finished 5th in silver and we accomplished this with a total team effort. All year we strived for a more spiritual and connecting team. The players on this team were able to make a commitment to each other, so as captain it was easy and fun to organize it.

Unfortunately several of our players couldn't go to nationals, but fortunately we were able to pick up 2 players form two different teams Kathy Stanton and Maureen Favo who contributed to the spirit of our team. We had good times on the court as well as off the court. Along with the Parsippany men's team there was in room parties and card games, hot tub get together, dancing and dinners at some nice restaurants.

Regardless of your strength as a team everyone can go to nationals and compete. Each division has 3 levels gold,silver.and bronze. Once pool play is complete teams then advance into one of these levels and play in a double elimination format. Congratulations to Downstate who won the Bronze medal in the bronze level, another successful team in Geva due to their commitment to each other.

We are looking forward to competing in Ohio next year and having a successful season in GEVA.

Serve-Ace-A Red (Women's BB)

Volleyball is tough to get out of your system. Over the past four seasons, I have played on four different teams. I have tried joining existing teams as well as creating my own. At the conclusion of each season, I was disappointed with my team's play, tournament results, and team chemistry. Each season, I have proclaimed that I was finished with club volleyball. BUT....for the past two years, I have attended the USAV Nationals as a spectator. I cheered my friends and watched some of the best volleyball players in the country. Each year, my experience at the Nationals has drawn me back into the game. This season, I once again took on the challenge of starting my own team. With the help of some fellow volleyball enthusiasts, some girls that I have trained and club Serve-Ace-A, I formed Serve-Ace-A Blue. My team once again struggled throughout the season, but our team chemistry was great and I started planting the "Nationals seed" in their heads early on. I knew that if I could get my team there, everyone would take the game more seriously. It was touch and go for a while, and I wasn't sure that we would have enough girls to go until the last minute. Luckily, we made the trip to San Jose and played hard for three days. Our first Nationals was tough on the court. We didn't win too many matches, but many of them were close and we finished in the bronze division. I think we all hoped to do better, but everyone truly appreciated the competition and looked forward to playing next year. But most importantly, this was the first season that has me looking forward to picking up where we left off instead of once again searching for a new team. My experience at the Nationals definitely helped me come up with that conclusion.

Warren Juniors 16s (Junior Boys 16s)

Warren's 16-under team was seeded 18th and finished ninth in the 21-team Club Division, compiling a 3-6 match record an 6-15 game record. The team won three matches that went to rally scoring for a third game ... a situation that had been a problem for the group at East Coast, where they also played while missing several players.

Playing for the 16-under team were: George Chen, Jeff Lee and Derek Morales, all East Brunswick; Paul Lyons and Mike and Pat Fenton, Edison; Scott Fischer, Whitehouse Station; Kevin Mastropietro, and Pawel Pregowski, Bridgewater; Josh McWhorter, Flemington; Chris Rose, South Amboy; and David Ross, Perth Amboy. Warren's 1999/2000 season will begin with practices in September, and the club intends to field 12-under, 14-under, 16-under, 17-under and 18-under teams this year. Anyone interested should contact Mario Caruso, (908) 755-4556.

Warren Juniors 17s (Junior Boys 17s)

Warren's 17-under team was seeded 32nd and placed 30th out of 34 teams in that age group, compiling a 5-5 record in matches and 11-14 record in games. That team faced many pressure-packed contests, with 8 games decided by two or fewer points, including 3 by scores of 17-16 (one win, two loses). The team was 4-4 in the eight games.

The tournament was the first national event for most of the 17-under team, which included Brian Cafferty, Neptune, and Ryan Walsh, Lakewood. Also on the team were: Alex Stein, Eric DeRiso, and Taras Borysyuk, all East Brunswick; Rob Vrabel, Iselin; Tim Roche, Cherry Hill; Andy Kultonowicz, Iselin; Jason Madsen, South Plainfield and Rob Margeton, Bridgewater. Vrabel, a senior, is set to attend and play for NJIT next year.

Warren Juniors 18s (Junior Boys 18s)

The Warren Volleyball Association/SixPak Volleygear junior teams completed the 1998/99 season with strong performances at the USA Volleyball Junior Nationals in New Orleans from July 7-10.

Three of Warren's four teams finished better than their seeding. And one of the players with the club was signed to continue his career at the collegiate level. Matt Strapko, a senior from East Brunswick, committed to play at Ohio State starting in the fall.

"This is something I wanted to happen, I did everything in my power to make it happen, but when it actually happened I was still surprised,'' said Strapko, who will red-shirt this year and fight for a starting spot starting in 2000. If he had not been approached by Ohio State coach Pete Hansen, Strapko would have attended The College of New Jersey to play basketball.

"I knew there was a chance, especially from talking to Dave (Dave Denure, the former New Jersey Institute of Technology coach who joined the Warren program as a coach late in the year). He told me if you're a good enough volleyball player, you won't go unnoticed.''

With Strapko's recruitment, all eight seniors on the Warren 18-under team are planning to play in college at the Division I, II, III or club level. In addition to Strapko, the Division I players are Paul Bocage, Princeton, who is heading for Stanford, and Josh Jun, Fort Lee, who will play for Rutgers-Newark. Also set to play in college: Jens Madsen, South Plainfield (Division III East Stroudsburg) and Matt Snyder, Voorhees (Division III Sacred Heart or Division II NJIT). Planning to play at the club level: Frank Wilk, Bridgewater (St. Joseph's), Ryan Morse, Mt. Holly (Boston University) and Pete Stine, Linden (Arizona State).

With such a talented roster that also included 17-year-old Junior Brad Kniewel of Ringwood and Jed Holladay of Somerville, Warren's 18-under team had high expectations for the tournament. But they were seeded 47th in the 52-team 18-under Open division, due mostly to their 10th-place finish at the East Coast Championships in Richmond Va. over Memorial Day weekend. The top three finishers from the East Coast event received the No.‚4, 9 and 14th seeds at the tournament. Pace Bootlegger of Rochester, New York, the 14th seeds, went on to finish second at the tournament, losing to the Los Angeles Athletic Club in the final.

Warren, which had placed third at the prestigious Nittany Lion Invitational at Penn State with its full roster in early February, was missing several key players at the East Coast event because the state high school final was held the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

"It hurt us not having a full team at East Coast,'' said Madsen. ""That set us back some.'' The 18-under team still managed to finish in 35th place, compiling a 3-8 record in matches and 8-18 record in games. Included in its wins was a 15-7, 15-10 victory over No.‚11 seed Sunset Beach of San Diego, California.

"It was a little disappointing, being that we had the best players in New Jersey,'' Madsen said. ""But we just couldn't put it all together. And it wasn't like we were playing weak teams, we were competitive in games against some of the best teams in the country.'' Warren also had a team play in the 18-under Club Division, and that team, comprised mostly of 17-under players, finished fifth out of 21 teams. Led by Andrew Elken, Latham, N.Y. (and formerly of Westfield), who was named to the All-Tournament team, the team went 7-3 in matches and 14-9 in games. Also playing for the team were: Chris and Matt Brady, Sayreville; Dan Lattanzi, Craig Pinkney and Gerald Reiner, all Ringwood; Jose Martinez, Clifton; and Alex Weber, Slingerlands, N.Y.

Warren SixPak 45's (Men's Masters 45's)

The 45's team included Roman Adrianowycz, Bob Dingee, Steve Eaton, Henry Fryczynski, Bob Jackson, Will Lapp, Chip Lynch, Gregory Solovey, Jim Webber and Charlie Young. We arrived on Friday, May 29 and had a practice court that night. Within the first 20 minutes Charlie turned his ankle badly and about a half hour later Henry damaged his ribs. So we were down 1 player before the tournament even started! Charlie couldn't play at all and Henry could only get his arms a little above chest height and was restricted to back row duty.

Despite our lack of players, we played well (5-1 in pool play) and were still playing Tuesday morning in the Gold bracket. We lost our second match in the double elimination to the team that came in third, which gave us a fifth. We had come into the tournament hoping for top 5 and so our result was a good one. We expect to keep our team intact and hope to attract a couple more players for next year in Columbus and improve on the 1999 finish.

As usual Nationals are a good chance to catch up with friends made in previous years, cheer for all the GEVA teams and play a lot of good volleyball. This year was no exception. The facilities were great as usual and USAV is to be commended for producing a good tournament.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank some of the people in GEVA who helped make the 1999 Nationals a success for us: Peter Wu (Six Pak), Bob Dingee, Roman Adrianowycz, Felicia Green and George Fetz for their work in volleyball throughout the year.

Warren SixPak 60's (Men's Masters 60's)

This being a new team, just assembled this season, we got together for the first time in March for a tournament in Ashville, North Carolina. We only won one game the entire day but it was a good meet for us just getting together. As I said this is a new team made up mostly of players who were sitting the bench for other teams and wanted an opportunity to play. George Fetz agreed to play and act as coach for the team for the USVBA National Tournament in San Jose, California in early June.

During the preliminary portion of this tournament we played fairly good, finishing second in pool play. Unfortunately our play in the play-off portion was not as good, and we bowed out of the tournament finishing tied for 5'th place. In the play-offs we lost to teams we had beaten in the pool play, so all in all it was a very disappointing experience.

My thoughts on the USVBA Nationals

I have now competed in five (5) USVBA Nationals, starting in 1991. (A far cry from the thirty-nine (39) by George Fetz!) Hopefully in increasing numbers. I enjoy the excitement and energy of meandering through the gym or civic center, where perhaps over twenty (20) matches, at all levels of competition, are in progress at the moment.

Most of all what keeps bringing me, and the many faces I see year after year, to the USVBA Nationals, is the thrill of competition at your own age level. Being able to measure your abilities against your peers.

During the regular volleyball season we all play with and compete against men anywhere from 10-35 years younger than ourselves.

The USVBA Nationals is really the only magnet to draw players and teams of my own age group, from all areas of the country to compete under one roof. It gives me a goal to focus on. I am rejuvenated by the process.

John Benusis, Age 58