Men’s Volleyball Earns Two Skyline Conference Victories

Photo courtesy of Ramapo Athletics

The Ramapo men’s volleyball team won both games of their doubleheader on Saturday in straight sets, defeating Purchase College and the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Skyline Conference matchups.           

They defeated Purchase College (25-13, 25-20, 25-21) and took down Mount Saint Vincent (25-23, 25-18, 25-21).

The team is on a three-game win streak, and they have won five of their last six games and 15 of their last 20 sets. With the two wins, the Roadrunners reach a .500 record at 8-8 overall. They are now 3-1 in the conference.

Head Coach Kevin Rodgers said the return of setter sophomore Alec Weissman and their win against No. 14 Elmira College have been big factors during this streak, as well as this weekend’s wins.      

“[Weissman] has been a huge leader on the court,” said Rodgers.  “Everyone is connecting well. Everything has been much better.  [The game against Elmira] gave us some confidence knowing that we can hang with these teams. We are getting better.”           

Weissman had 36 assists against Purchase College, and freshman Justin Feigeles recorded 10 kills.          

Outside hitter, sophomore Ryan Casci, said that the victory against Elmira was “no doubt a kick starter” for the Roadrunners.           

“Beating a ranked team was an incredible confidence booster,” said Casci. “We'll only improve from this point and I believe we'll continue to beat more and more ranked teams as the season goes on."         

Casci added that now that the whole team is healthy, the team’s chemistry is growing immensely.        

“We've been able to start building our on-court chemistry again. We're really starting to hit our stride mentally and physically,” Casci said.           

The team hit a combined .260 hitting percentage with 45 kills on 96 attempts and 20 errors against Purchase.           

Rodgers compared this week’s doubleheader and last week’s against Kean and Yeshiva University.           

“We knew Kean was going to be a tough matchup, and Yeshiva wasn’t going to be as tough,” said Rodgers. “This week, we had to just make sure we were mentally prepared for both teams. Purchase and Mount Saint Vincent are both quality teams we really need to take serious. Even though we beat Purchase, we just needed to focus on our next match an hour later.”

In the game against Mount Saint Vincent, Casci had 11 kills and recorded a .556 hitting percentage.       

“Being able to contribute to your team isn't only an individual confidence booster, but it rubs off on your teammates and makes them more into the game and ultimately making us play better as a team,” said Casci

Rodgers said he expected the second game to be a bit tougher than the first.

“[Mount Saint Vincent] is a tougher opponent, they were at home with their crowd behind them, but that didn’t fluster us at all,” said Rodgers. “We just went out there and played consistently.”

The team recorded 14 service aces with freshman middle blocker Marinus Tavernier leading the way with seven.

With a busy schedule coming up, Casci said that the team has to stay focused.

“My thought process is to just play our game and we'll come out with wins,” said Casci.  “My expectations are simple, winning. Going into games with confidence is crucial.  If you think you're going to lose, you will, because you're already mentally defeated.”

rmorik@ramapo.edu