STATE COLLEGE, Pa., April 24, 2002 - Penn State senior setter
José Quiñones (Bayamon, Puerto Rico), who was named the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association's Player of the Year for the second-straight season, heads this list of players selected to the all-conference teams announced Wednesday by the EIVA.
Quiñones was named First-Team All-EIVA in each of his four seasons at Penn State and received the Uvaldo Acosta Memorial EIVA Player of the Year Award as both a junior and as a senior. He totaled 1,054 assists this season, an average of 14.05 per game. In addition, Quiñones ranked third on the team with 24 aces, third with 62 blocks and third with a 1.28 digs-per-game average.
Quiñones was one of six Nittany Lions named First Team All-EIVA. Other Lions on the first team were junior outside hitter Carlos Guerra (Tamaulipus, Mexico), sophomore middle blocker Norm Keil (St. James, N.Y.), junior opposite hitter Zeljko Koljesar (Kitchener, Ontario), sophomore libero Ricky Mattei (San Juan, Puerto Rico) and junior middle blocker Zach Slenker (Dallastown, Pa.).
Guerra led Penn State with a 4.26 kills per game average,while also totaling 26 aces, 130 digs and 38 blocks this year. Keil hit .484 on the season and averaged 2.05 kills and a team-high 1.19 blocks per game. Koljesar averaged just under four kills a game for Penn State, but still hit .374 on the year to go along with a team-high 29 aces. Mattei led Penn State with 152 digs and a 1.95 digs-per-game average. Slenker averaged 3.35 kills per game, hit .503 and finished second on the team with 77 blocks.
Senior outside hitter Jason Hawkins (Lake Mary, Fla.) picked up second-team All-EIVA honors. Hawkins is averaging 2.34 kills per game on .401 hitting, also posting 43 total blocks and 24 digs.
Penn State ended the regular season with a 22-3 record, and a perfect 14-0 mark in the EIVA and will play host to the league's tournament this weekend, April 25 & 27. The Lions will face Concordia in Thursday's second semifinal beginning at 8:00 p.m. while George Mason and Rutgers-Newark will square off in the 6:00 p.m. matchup. The EIVA final will take place on Saturday, April 27 at 7:00 p.m. Admission to the event is free.
All-EIVA
Uvaldo Acosta Memorial EIVA Player of the Year -José Quiñones, S, Penn State, Bayamon, Puerto Rico
EIVA Newcomer of the Year - Aleks Ondelj, Rutgers-Newark, S, Orlando, Fla.
First Team
Ryan Burrow, Rutgers-Newark, OH, Racine, Wis.
James Claney, George Mason, MB, Northbrook, Ill.
Carlos Guerra, Penn State, OH, Tamaulipus, Mexico
Jeremy Hoff, Rutgers-Newark, OPP, Evanston, Ill.
Norm Keil, Penn State, MB, St. James, N.Y.
Zelimir Koljesar, Penn State, OPP. Kitchener, Ontario
Aleks Ondelj, Rutgers-Newark, S, Orlando, Fla.
Jose Quiñones, Penn State, S, Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Zach Slenker, Penn State, MB, Dallastown, Pa.
Libero - Ricky Mattei, Penn State, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Second Team
Maxim Auguste, Queens, OPP, Castries, St. Lucia
Jeremy Desiron, Rutgers-Newark, MB, Des Plaines, Ill.
Jonathan Hanners, George Mason, S, Richmond, Va.
Jason Hawkins, Penn State, OH, Lake Mary, Fla.
Danko Iordanov, Rutgers-Newark, OH, Varna, Bulgaria
Mitchell Kallick, NYU, MB, Henderson, Nev.
Scott Kittleson, George Mason, MB, Virginia Beach, Va.
Art Kulans, George Mason, OH, Crystal Lake, Fla.
Ashraf Taman, Concordia, OH, Alexandria, Egypt
Libero - Thom Stone, NYU, Sacramento, Calif.
** Note: There are less than 2,000 tickets remaining for the 2002 Men's Volleyball National Championship to be held May 2 & 4 at Rec Hall. For ticket information, please call 814-865-5555 or 1-800-863-3336.
