By Marc Raimondi
CORTLAND, N.Y. — The New York City men’s open volleyball team cruised through pool play, winning every single set and earning a No. 1 seed in Saturday’s Empire State Games playoffs. But even before the squad arrived at SUNY Cortland last week, the players knew the talent-rich team had a chance to succeed.
“I was pretty confident,” said Glendale native Mark Burik, who played Division I volleyball at George Mason. “Since June, we were thinking gold medal.”
For good reason. Burik is an established outside hitter and will play professionally in Sweden this fall. The team also featured 7-foot Woodside resident Jacek Ratajczak, who plays at Cal State Northridge, one of the nation’s elite teams, and Kert Fernandez, a 6-foot-6 middle who coaches the boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams at Newcomers HS. On the sidelines was Karl Pierre, the former Queens College men’s volleyball coach, known as one of the best volleyball minds in the city.
But after falling to Long Island in the double-elimination playoffs, New York City lost, 25-22, in a one-set playoff against Western and took silver. The city team swept Western to set up the double final. The playoff was the only set out of eight that Western beat NYC the entire weekend.
“This wasn’t the plan,” Pierre said. “When you come down to only one set left, that shouldn’t be the way (to win a gold medal).”
Reach Associate Sports Editor Marc Raimondi by e-mail at mraimondi@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 130.
