Volleyball Season Underway

Team Looking to Improve Record

Yeshiva University's men's volleyball team opened their season on Tuesday, January 26, 1999, at home against the NJCU Gothic Knights, bringing volleyball fervor and excitement to the campus. The one hundred or so spectators were not disappointed, as the two teams provided some exciting high-flying action, replete with spikes and kills galore.

It was the first of eight home matches for the Macs this season, and while they showed potential to be an exciting competitive team later in the season, they weren't quite ready for the caliber of opponent that they faced . As Stan Watson, Assistant Director of Athletics put it, "It was a tough team to face in their first match They [NJCU] are one of the tougher teams on the schedule." The Gothic Nights were a team that had chemistry and experience; the sort of team that the Macs hope to play like later in the year.

As far as his view on the Macs' chances for the rest of the season, Stan was very optimistic. "This year, our team has some good size, and many players have shown potential. The Macs should be competitive later in the season." Macs players are quite confident of their abilities. As Andrew Harrari, team co-captain put it, "This looks like the best team of players ever assembled since beach god's Karch Kiraly and Sinjin Smith." Harrari went on to explain the similarities between his play and that of his hero Karch Kiraly.

This exciting team has reason to be confident thanks to the addition of new coach Robert Pichardo, along with the return of star player Russel Kimlagarov and the enthusiasm of setter Steve Martinek. Pichardo was brought to Yeshiva thanks to Director of Athletics Dr. Richard Zernick, who knew Pichardo from his playing days at City College. Pichardo has spent time as the head coach at various colleges and institutions, including Cooper Union, Monroe College, Clinton High School, the Dominican Republic Junior National Men's team, and the Junior Olympic Girl's team here in New York City. All in all, he has sixteen years of coaching experience, and Yeshiva University is lucky to have him. He is setting realistically attainable goals for this year's team that he is confident that they are capable of meeting. "This year," he said, "we hope to attain a winning percentage of .500 or better." He inherits a team that last year finished a disappointing 3-16.

The other non-player addition to the team is manager Zev Rosenberg. His work with team equipment and the inspiration that he has provided ranks him amongst the great mangers in Yeshiva University. He is genuinely proud of to be a part of this great Macs team, saying, "Our team has the cleanest jockstraps in the entire conference." While that was more information then we needed to know, it is a testament to his devotion.

The key players to watch on the floor this year are co-captains Andrew Harrari and Russel Kimlagarov, along with outspoken floor leader Steve Martinek. They are the clear leaders of a young team. As he showed early on in the first match, Russel is the team's best player. His spikes are menacing and he knows how to play defense. He clearly leads with his play. As Coach Pichardo put it, "Offensively, he manipulates the ball the way that he wants to, but he couldn't have done it without Steve Martinek." Martinek is the team's best setter, and one of its better diggers. He is by and large the loudest and most vocal member of the team on the floor.

Starters for this year's team include Steve Martinek, Andrew Harrari, Russel Kimlagarov, and Alex Shakhmurov. As the season goes on, this team will gel together and learn how to play with one another. It is unclear what sort of record this team will finish with, but one thing is for certain - they will be exciting and fun to watch.