2002 ECAC Men's Volleyball Championship

CCNY Captures Inaugural Crown

NEW YORK, NY- City College of New York, the host and top seed, topped the College of Mt. St Vincent, 35-33, 30-24, 30-18 to win the inaugural ECAC South Men’s Volleyball Championship. The crowd of 135 were treated to three very intense games at CCNY’s Nat Holman Gymnasium.

CCNY (25-5) was led by junior Owen Niles, a native of Barbados, with 15 kills and 5 blocks in the title match. Niles, a two-time CUNY Athletic Conference Player of the Year, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the ECAC Tournament. In the team’s straight-set semifinal win over Ramapo College the day before, Niles contributed 11 kills.

“It was great to accomplish this on our home court,” said CCNY’s Owen Niles. “Our team was deter-mined to win this game.”

Senior Welmer Magtoto (Queens, NY), a CUNYAC 2nd Team All-Star, led the Beavers with 47 as-sists, while CUNYAC Rookie of the Year Sebastian Hoffman (Leipzig, Germany) added 12 kills and 5 blocks.

The Beavers, who were ranked 10th in last week’s AVCA / USA Today Division III poll, were thwarted in their two previous efforts to win a postseason championship this year, losing in the final match of the CUNY Tournament and the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) Tournament last week.

“To win the first ever ECAC Volleyball Championship is an honor” said Coach Robert Pichardo. “Our guys were very focused after losing in the CUNY and NECVA Championships,” added the CUNYAC Coach of the Year after leading the Beavers to a 25-5 mark this season, the best in school history.