In their first season ever, Finger Lakes CC volleyball team wins a national championship
As far as debuts go, this one was smashing.
In its first season of existence, the Finger Lakes Community College men’s volleyball team won the inaugural NJCAA National Invitational Championship in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
The Lakers defeated Monroe College (New Rochelle), 3-1, on Saturday.
The Lakers had a storybook season, performing when it mattered most, on the big stage. Despite going 0-2 during the regular season against the Monroe College Mustangs, the Lakers rose to the occasion in the national invitational. In the crossover round of the championships, the two teams battled it out, with the Lakers emerging victorious 3-1.
'Let's go home national champions'
The win earned them a Day 2 bye and an automatic bid to the semifinal round. The Lakers kept their momentum going, cruising past the host, the College of DuPage, with a 3-0 win in the semifinals. This victory secured a spot for them in the championship match, where they would face the Mustangs again.
"The last thing I said to the guys was to leave it all on the court and let's go home national champions", said freshman Jonah Grbic, a Victor graduate.
Coach Andrew Solomon said the team watched film from its earlier losses to Monroe to prepare for the championship match.
“In the first week of March, we made some adjustments and worked on them for 6 weeks leading up to nationals,” he said. “Our mindset was that we had nothing to lose. We were the underdog and that is just where we wanted to be.”
At the invitational, FLCC lost just two sets in five matches and finished the season with a record of 13-6 after the championship win.
"There were so many things I was feeling in that moment", said freshman Bryce Ceravolo, a Canandaigua Academy graduate. “We started as a program with open gyms and no tryouts; those open gyms turned into a team that won a national championship".
FLCC volleyball awards
Grbic, named the tournament MVP, finished with 23 kills on 38 attempts and achieved an impressive hitting percentage of .500 in the championship and Nick Ferris (Canandaigua) contributed 11 kills. Ian Meeks (Victor) finished with 8 kills and Ceravolo had 56 assists and one service ace while AJ DeBalso (Canandaigua) added 9 digs.
Solomon was named NJCAA Coach of the Year.
"It felt great to get MVP but we couldn't have won anything without everyone on the team playing the roles that they did,” said Grbic. “We came so far as a team this season. Going into the championship match we were obviously the underdogs. I told the team the only thing standing in between us and a national championship was 3 sets.”
This article originally appeared on MPNnow: FLCC mens volleyball wins national championship in first season
