Mahwah, NJ: The Ramapo College men's volleyball team defeated the Hawks of Hunter College, 3-2 (28-30, 30-22, 30-24, 22-30, 15-9) in the semi-finals of the 2005 ECAC Division III Men's Volleyball Championship Tournament before going on to drop NECVA rival Mt. St. Vincent, 3-1 (30-27, 35-33, 22-30, 30-26) in the finals taking the 2005 ECAC Championship crown. The Roadrunners finish the year, 26-13 overall while Mount St. Vincent wraps up the season at 16-10. MSV advanced to the final by defeating New Jersey City University, 3-1 (30-19, 30-19, 29-31, 30-27). NJCU's appearance in the tournament was their first appearance ever in post-season play outside of the NECVA conference.
Ramapo's senior RYAN HOWELL (Bridgewater, NJ ) was named the 2005 ECAC Most Valuable Player after leading the Roadrunners to the championship with 18 digs. HOWELL posted seven kills for the night with four blocks.
After a slow start in game one, The Roadrunners fought back to come-from-behind and post a three point game one victory over the Dolphins. Ramapo took game two fighting to 35-33 taking a two game lead. The Dolphins came out strong in the third closing the gap to one game before the Roadrunners sparked up game four and dropped the Dolphins, 30-26 taking the match, 3-1. The Roadrunners hit .250 with 61 kills on 140 attempts with 26 errors while Mt. St. Vincent posted 55 kills on 136 attempts with 35 errors hitting .147 in the loss.
In the championship match-up, junior ALEX LIKHOVIDOV (Ringwood, NJ ) led the team posting 23 kills on 50 attempts while rookie outside hitter DAVID ROSS (Perth Amboy, NJ ) recorded 16 kills on 37 attempts with six errors hitting .270. Senior JERRY ROMAN (West New York, NJ ) posted six kills and led the team in blocks with eight total and rookie BRENDAN WHITFORD (Lyndhurst, NJ ) added seven kills and six blocks in the win. Senior setter HECTOR RODRIGUEZ (West New York, NJ ) and sophomore setter JORDAN ROLDAN (Jersey City, NJ ) combined for 58 assists and ROSS led the defense with 11 digs.
For the Dolphins, senior Phil Gallagher (Peru, ME) led the team with 26 kills on 49 attempts while Wilson Tran (Brooklyn, NY ) posted 24 kills on 53 attempts with 15 errors hitting .170. Matthew Reinhardt (Staten Island, NY ) dished out a team-high 49 assists and Gallagher led the defense with 12 digs.
In the semi-final match-up, Ramapo's ROSS led the way with 19 kills and LIKHOVIDOV added 17 while ROMAN posted 11 of his own. ROMAN recorded a team-high six blocks and HOWELL led the defense with ten digs. As a team the Roadrunners hit .248 with 60 kills on 129 attempts with 28 errors ahead of Hunter's .184 with 60 kills on 141 attempts with 34 errors.
Congratulations to all on a job well done!
