BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Ohio State digs for prospects in WNY
When Ohio State has a spot to fill on its men’s volleyball roster, there’s one place the Buckeyes always look — Buffalo.
Head coach Peter Hanson said Buffalo has been a good recruiting area for him since he began his tenure at OSU in 1985. When he arrived at Ohio State the Buckeyes had three players from Buffalo: Mark Edinger, Chris Gurrieri and Mike Zawadyski. His first recruiting class included John Loftus from Sweet Home.
“We have always made sure that we recruit thoroughly in the Buffalo area,” Hanson said. “There has been great high school coaching for many, many years and there is a very strong boys [USA Volleyaball] Club element in the area also.”
OSU’s latest find is Orchard Park’s Mike Stefani, who has verbally committed to OSU and will make it official in November when he signs a national letter of intent.
Pat Schwagler and Tom Comfort of Orchard Park and Craig Freier and Derek Jansma of Lancaster are considered other Section VI Division I prospects in the Class of 2009.
“Things can always be cyclical, and we just happen to be getting our fair share from Buffalo right now,” Hanson said. “You go wherever we can find them.”
The OSU roster already includes 6- foot-6 outside hitter Dale Freier of Lancaster and 6-5 outside hitter John Klanac of Orchard Park.
The OSU connection goes even deeper. Orchard Park co-coach Matt Lexner played three seasons at OSU from 1991 to ’93. Co-coach Walt Stefani got to know Hanson when he was recruiting Rich Bland in 1988-’89.
Stefani said occasionally Hanson will call to ask if there is anyone in the Buffalo area he thinks “will look good as a Buckeye.”
Coaches also frequent national tournaments and will put younger players on a watch list and follow their development. “We have such a long list of athletes playing with USAV they always keep an eye on us,” Stefani said. “We’re a place you should not overlook for athletes.”
Penn State, the defending NCAA champions, currently has 6-7 middle hitter Max Lipsitz of Williamsville North. Matt Anderson of West Seneca West would be on the roster, but he decided to forego his senior year to play professionally in South Korea. Both got rings last year.
Several other Section VI graduates are playing Division I: Joe Norton (Eden) is at George Mason, Phil Peterson (Frontier) and J. J. Meyer (Eden) are at Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne, Pete Frier (Orchard Park) is at St. Francis (Pa.), and J. J. Pincoski (Orchard Park) is at Loyola-Chicago.
The fact Western New York is so well represented on the NCAA stage is remarkable considering the odds of landing a Division I scholarship are less than 1 percent. In NCAA Division I and II there are only 31 schools that offer men’s volleyball, along with a handful of NAIA schools with a budget for scholarships.
Eden coach Robert Pierce played at Penn State from 1985 to 1989 after an All- WNY career at Eden. He’s got a good relationship with most of the coaches in the NCAA. “They know we have a hotbed and a plethora of talent,” he said. “They’re always looking for the next Matt Anderson or Max Lipsitz. We produce some pretty solid athletes.”
