THE MATCH-UPS. TEMPLE OWLS 7-3, 0-0 American. HEAD COACH Bakeer Ganesharatnam / 6th Yr. Overall: at School: Same

Transcription

1 TEMPLE VOLLEYBALL 2016 MATCH NOTES - TEMPLE VS. TULANE (9/23) & HOUSTON (9/25) Lauren Ferrett, Associate Director for Athletic Communications lauren.ferrett@temple.edu O: C: Website: MATCH INFORMATION Date...September 23, September 25 Site...McGonigle Hall Live Stats... sidearmstats.com/temple/wvball/media Video...owlsports.com/watch Temple vs. Tulane Last Meeting...L, 3-1 at Tulane Temple vs. Houston Last Meeting...W, 3-0 at Houston Twitter SCHEDULE/RESULTS Day Date Opponent Time Sonestra Philadelphia Hotel Temple Invitational Fri. Aug. 26 vs. Northern Arizona W, 3-1 Sat. Aug. 27 Hampton W, 3-0 Puerto Rico Clásico Fri. Sep. 2 vs. Virginia Tech L, 2-3 Sat. Sep. 3 vs. Alabama L, 1-3 Hilton Penn s Landing Cherry & White Challenge Fri. Sep. 9 Cleveland State L, 3-2 Sat. Sep. 10 New Hampshire W, 3-1 Sat. Sep. 10 Rutgers W, 3-0 Philadelphia Big 5 Tournament (at Penn/La Salle) Fri. Sep. 16 Villanova (at Penn) W, 3-0 Sat. Sep. 17 at La Salle W, 3-1 Sat. Sep. 17 Penn (at La Salle) W, 3-0 American Athletic Conference Fri. Sep. 23 vs. Tulane 7:00 p.m. Sun. Sep. 25 vs. Houston 1:00 p.m. Wed. Sep. 28 at UConn 5:00 p.m. Sun. Oct. 2 at Memphis 1:00 p.m. Fri. Oct. 7 at Tulsa 1:00 p.m. Sun. Oct. 9 at SMU 2:00 p.m. Fri. Oct. 14 vs. USF 7:00 p.m. Sun. Oct. 16 vs. UCF 1:00 p.m. Fri. Oct. 21 at ECU 7:00 p.m. Sun. Oct. 23 at Cincinnati 1:00 p.m. Wed. Oct. 26 vs. UConn 5:00 p.m. Fri. Oct. 28 vs. Memphis 7:00 p.m. Fri. Nov. 4 at Houston 8:00 p.m. Sun. Nov. 6 at Tulane 12:00 p.m. Fri. Nov. 11 vs. Cincinnati 7:00 p.m. Sun. Nov. 13 vs. ECU 1:00 p.m. Fri. Nov. 18 at UCF 7:00 p.m. Sun. Nov. 20 at USF 1:00 p.m. Wed. Nov. 23 vs. SMU 1:00 p.m. Fri. Nov. 25 vs. Tulsa 1:00 p.m. All times Eastern. Home matches in bold THE MATCH-UPS TEMPLE OWLS 7-3, 0-0 American HEAD COACH Bakeer Ganesharatnam / 6th Yr. Overall: at School: Same LAST MATCH W, 3-0 vs. Penn 9/17/16 TULANE GREEN WAVE 8-4, 0-0 American HEAD COACH Jim Barnes / 1st Yr. Overall: at School: 8-4 LAST MATCH W, 3-0 vs. Abilene Christian 9/17/16 HOUSTON COUGARS 5-6, 0-0 American HEAD COACH Kerry Carr / 20th Yr. Overall: at School: LAST MATCH L, 3-0 at Rice 9/17/16 TEMPLE HEADLINES Temple carries a 7-3 overall record heading into conference play. The Owls have won five in a row, including winning all three matches at last weekend s Philadelphia Big 5 Tournament. At the Big 5 Tournament, the Owls topped Villanova (3-0), La Salle (3-1), and Penn (3-0), with sophomore Mia Heirakuji being named MVP, and senior Tyler Davis earning All-Tournament honors. Temple is in their fourth year of American Athletic Conference play. The Owls are coming off their second-straight 24-8 season, also compiling a 15-5 record to place second in The American Athletic Conference The 24 wins tied the 2014 squad for the most wins since the 2002 season Head Coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam is in his sixth season with the Owls, recently winning his 100th career match to move to Temple was picked to finish second in the conference preseason poll The Owls had the most representatives on the preseason All-American Athletic Conference team, with three players making the list --, Kirsten Overton, and Izzy Rapacz Asci (1st team), Overton (1st team), and Rapacz (2nd team) are returning 2015 All- Conference honorees Dara Peric (2nd team; Freshman of the Year) and Tyler Davis (2nd team) are also returning All-Conference selections, as both were honored in 2014 The Owls finished their tough non-conference slate with a 7-3 overall record, playing six teams that made the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Temple went 2-0 to win the Temple Invitational the first weekend of the season, defeating Northern Arizona (3-1) and Hampton (3-0). Senior Izzy Rapacz was named Temple Invitational MVP, while juniors Irem and Kyra Coundourides earned All-Tournament honors. The Owls took second and finished second at the Cherry and White Challenge, with Kirsten Overton and Asci earning All-Tournament nods. TEMPLE VOLLEYBALL ON SOCIAL MEDIA - TUVB

2 2016 TEMPLE VOLLEYBALL ROSTER NO NAME YR POS HT HOMETOWN/PREVIOUS SCHOOL 1 Jr. OH 5-11 Ankara, Turkey/Collage Ayseabla/Charlotte 2 Janine Simmons Jr. MB 6-1 Centreville, Va. Centreville 3 Mia Heirakuji So. DS/L 5-5 Kailua, Hawaii/Kamehameha 4 Iva Deak So. MB 6-0 Zagreb, Croatia/IV Gimnazija Zagre/Iowa West. 5 Dara Peric Jr. OH 6-0 Belgrade, Serbia/HS of Tourism 7 Kyra Coundourides Jr. S 5-10 Brunswick, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit/Virginia Tech 8 Carla Guennewig So. MB 6-2 Muenster, Germany/Pascal Gym. Muenster 10 Hannah Vandegrift So. S 6-0 Leesburg, Va./Loudoun County 11 Kirsten Overton Sr. MB 6-1 Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford 12 Caroline Grattan Sr. OH/RS 6-1 Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon 14 Dana Westfield Fr. OH 6-0 Champaign, Ill./Champaign Central 15 Tyler Davis Sr. OH 6-0 Palm Desert, Calif./Xavier College Prep 16 Izzy Rapacz Jr. OH/RS 6-2 Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South COACHING STAFF Head Coach: Bakeer Ganesharatnam (Queens College 05; 6th year) Assistant Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator: Akiko Hatakeyama (Temple 99; 5th year) Assistant Coach: Ren Cefra (Hawai i-west Oahu 13; 2nd year) Operations Intern: Christian Kiselica NEWS AND NOTES AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE OPENERS Entering their fourth season in the American Athletic Conference, the Owls will open conference play at home for the first time since joining the league in In seasonopeners, Temple is 2-1 overall in The American, and in season-opening series, the Owls are 4-2 (2-0 in 2015, 1-1 in 2014, 1-1 in 2013). Last season, Temple opened American Athletic Conference play on the road, sweeping both USF and UCF. LAST TIME OUT: TEMPLE 3, PENN 0 (BIG 5) Temple closed out its Big 5 sweep with a 3-0 win over Penn, sealing the 2016 Championship. The Owls used set scores of 25-18, 25-16, and to breeze by the Quakers (4-8). Asci topped the Owls offense with 14 kills, hitting.417. Rapacz ended the match with nine kills, eight digs, and three blocks, while Kirsten Overton had eight kills, hitting.667 with four blocks. Davis rounded out the offense with seven kills, while Coundourides had 25 assists. Heirakuji again led the defense, tallying 15 digs. LAST TIME OUT: TEMPLE 3, LA SALLE 1 (BIG 5) Temple opened day two of the Big 5 tournament with a 3-1 victory over La Salle at Tom Gola Arena. The Owls rallied from a first-set loss, to win 23-25, 25-17, 25-15, Three players recorded double-doubles for the Owls, juniors (15 kills, 11 digs), Izzy Rapacz (14 kills, 12 digs), and Kyra Coundourides (39 assists, 11 digs). From the middle, senior Kirsten Overton and sophomore Iva Deak both notched six kills, while Overton adding four blocks and Deak, three. Senior Tyler Davis had seven kills, while classmate Caroline Grattan had four in two sets of action, while sophomore Mia Heirakuji led the team with 16 digs LAST TIME OUT: TEMPLE 3, VILLANOVA 0 (BIG 5) Temple opened the 2016 Philadelphia Big 5 Tournament with a 3-0 sweep over defending champion, Villanova at the Palestra on Friday afternoon. The Owls grabbed the win with set scores of 25-18, 27-25, and Asci led the Owls with 14 kills and 10 digs, while Overton and Davis each tallied seven kills and just one error. Overton finished with a.429 attack and added four blocks, while Davis hit.316 with two blocks. Deak had six kills without an error, hitting.545 with a team-best six blocks. Coundourides notched 37 assists and seven digs, while Heirakuji had a team-best 12 digs. SCOUTING THE OWLS Asci leads the Owls offense with 4.08 kills per set, which ranks her second in The American, while also tallying a team-best 3.25 digs per set. Rapacz is second on the Owls with 3.16 kills per set, also ranking third with 2.55 digs per set. Overton (1.94 kills/ set,.379 %) and Deak (1.77 kills/set,.352%) shore up the middle attack. Coundourides runs the offense to the tune of assists per set, also adding 2.37 PRONUNCIATION GUIDE 1...E-rem OST-chew 7 Kyra Coundourides...KEE-ruh Con-DOOR-ee-dez 4 Iva Deak... Eeva DAY-ock 12 Caroline Grattan...GROT-in 8 Carla Guennewig...Gun-uh-VIG 3 Mia Heirakuji...Hay-ra-KOO-gee 16 Izzy Rapacz... RAH-posh 5 Dara Peric...Darr-Uh PEAR-itch Bakeer Ganesharatnam...bah-KEER GAH-nez-SHA-rat-nam Akiko Hatakeyama... a-key-ko Ha-tah-KAY-yama AMERICAN PRE-SEASON POLL Rank School Points 1. Cincinnati 96 (7) 2. Temple 88 (2) 3. SMU 84 (2) 4. UCF UConn Houston Tulsa Tulane USF Memphis East Carolina 11 First-place votes in (parentheses) PROGRAM INFORMATION ALL-TIME Overall record: ( ) NCAA Appearances: 4 (1997, 1998, 1999, 2002) COACHING STAFF Head Coach:... Bakeer Ganesharatnam...Phone: (215) ganesb@temple.edu... Career Record (Years): (5 seasons)... Record at TU (Years): Same Assistant Head Coach:...Akiko Hatakeyama... Phone: (215) akiko.h@temple.edu Assistant Coach:... Ren Cefra... Phone: (215) renwick.cefra@temple.edu Student Dir. of Operations... Christian Kiselica... Phone: (215) templevb@temple.edu THE OWLS Letterwinners Returning/Lost:...10/3 Starters Returning/Lost:... 5/1 + libero Newcomers: Overall Record: American Record: American Finish:... 2nd TEMPLE UNIVERSITY Location:...Philadelphia, Pa. Founded: Enrollment:...39,000 Acting President:...Richard M. Englert Director of Athletics:...Dr. Patrick Kraft Nickname:... Owls Colors:... Cherry (201c) and White Home Court:...McGonigle Hall (3,900)

3 THE AMERICAN STANDINGS School Conf. % All % Streak E. Carolina W10 Tulsa W9 UConn W2 UCF W5 USF W3 Temple W5 Memphis W3 Tulane W2 SMU L1 Cincinnati W1 Houston L2 AMERICAN WEEKLY AWARDS - 9/19 Offensive POTW: Alex Mendoza, USF Defensive POTW: Brooke Berryhill, Tulsa Honor Roll: Jale Hervey, UCF Jeanne Westney, UCF Jordan Thompson, Cincinnati Kayla Williams, UConn Katie Hegarty, SMU 2016 OWL SEASON HONORS The American Offensive Player of the Week Izzy Rapacz, 8/29/16 The American Weekly Honor Roll Kirsten Overton, 9/12/16 Temple Invitational All-Tournament Izzy Rapacz, MVP Kyra Coundourides Cherry & White Challenge All-Tournament Kirsten Overton Philadelphia Big 5 All-Tournament Mia Heirakuji, MVP Tyler Davis NEWS AND NOTES digs per frame. Defensively, Heirakuji averages 2.82 digs per set, while Overton leads Temple with 44 total blocks, including six solo. Rapacz (43), and Deak (36) also top the team with blocks. As a team, Temple hits.241, holding opponents to a.176 attack. The Owls average 2.46 blocks per set, which leads the conference. SCOUTING TULANE Tulane enters this weekend with an 8-5 overall record. The Green Wave have won two in a row, topping Abilene Christian, 3-0, and FAU, 3-2, in their last outings. Sarah Ray leads the Tulane attack with 3.15 kills per set, while Tea Juric (2.96 kills/set) and Hannah Shaw (2.81 kills/set), also bolster the Green Wave offense. Justine Bowers is the primary setter, averaging 8.77 assists per frame. Defensively, Dayna Kern has a team-best 48 total blocks, while Sarah Strasner has 28. Kaylie McHugh (3.38 digs/set) and Juric (3.08 digs/set) shore up the back row. OWLS VS. THE GREEN WAVE Temple leads the all-time series with Tulane, 3-1, with the teams splitting last season. Each team won their home match in 2015, as Tulane won 3-1 in New Orleans, and Temple won 3-1 in Philadelphia. SCOUTING HOUSTON The Cougars enter the weekend with a 5-6 overall record, including going 0-2 in their last action, falling to Yale and Rice at Rice s tournament. Three Houston players average 2.49 kills per set or better, including Sarah Afflerbaugh (3.02), Megan Duncan (2.52), and Brianna Lynch (2.49). The Cougars hit.203 as a team, with Keandra McCardell leading the team with 7.33 assists per set. Defensively, Katie Karbo averages 4.67 digs per set with McCardell contributing 1.86 digs per set. At the net, Chenelle Walker has racked up 31 total blocks, while Brianna Gardner has 18. OWLS VS. COUGARS Temple has a slim 4-3 lead in the all-time series, with the teams splitting the two match-ups last year. Both teams lost on their home court, with Houston topping Temple, 3-2, in McGonigle Hall, with Temple winning at Houston in a 3-0 sweep. PHILADELPHIA BIG 5 CHAMPIONS Temple won the 2016 Philadelphia Big 5 Championship for the third time in program history. The Cherry and White swept Villanova (3-0) on Friday, and then topped La Salle (3-1) and Penn (3-0) on Saturday to claim the title. TEMPLE INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONS Temple won the 2016 Sonesta Hotel Temple Invitational with a pair of victories last weekend. The Owls topped Northern Arizona, a 2015 NCAA Tournament team, 3-1 on Friday, and then swept Hampton, 3-0, on Saturday. TEMPLE PICKED TO FINISH SECOND Three Temple volleyball players earned American Athletic Conference pre-season honors, while the Owls were picked to finish second in a vote of the leagues coaches. Temple s three selections -- senior Kirsten Overton, and juniors and Izzy Rapacz, were the most for any American squad. Temple earned two first-place votes in the coaches poll, and finished in second place in the final tally with 88 points. The Owls ended last season in second place with a 15-5 conference mark and a 24-8 overall record and return three of their four All-Conference selections from TWO TEMPLE MATCHES TO AIR ON AMERICAN DIGITAL NETWORK Two Temple volleyball matches will be part of the American Digital Network s 18-game fall schedule. The Owls will air live on ADN for matches against UCF (away) and SMU (home). ADN is covering a total of three volleyball matches this fall.

4 2016 TEMPLE VOLLEYBALL TV ROSTER 1 7 IREM ASCI Ankara, Turkey KYRA COUNDOURIDES Brunswick, Ohio DANA WESTFIELD 14 Champaign, Ill. 2 JANINE SIMMONS CARLA GUENNEWIG Centreville, Va. 3 8 Muenster, Germany 10 TYLER DAVIS MIA HEIRAKUJI HANNAH VANDEGRIFT Kailua, Hawaii Leesburg, Va. 15Palm Desert, Calif. 16 LAST YEAR S OWL HONORS 4 11 IVA DEAK KIRSTEN OVERTON Zagreb, Croatia Royersford, Pa. 5 DARA PERIC Belgrade, Serbia CAROLINE GRATTAN 12 Pittsburgh, Pa. IZZY RAPACZ Glenville, Ill. American Offensive Player of the Week 9/28 - Kirsten Overton 11/30 - Temple Invitational All-Tournament Sandra Sydlik Seton Hall All-Tournament Tyler Davis American Athletic Conference Academic Excellence Award 2015 Temple Volleyball American Weekly Honor Roll 9/7-9/14 - Izzy Rapacz 9/21 - Kirsten Overton 9/28 - Alyssa Drachslin 10/5-10/12 - Alyssa Drachslin 10/19 - Tyler Davis 10/26 - Caroline Grattan 11/9 - Sandra Sydlik 11/16 - Izzy Rapacz 11/23 - NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Alyssa Drachslin Owlsports.com Athlete of the Week 9/28 - Kirsten Overton All-American Athletic Conference Sandra Sydlik, First Team Kirsten Overton, First Team, First Team Izzy Rapacz, Second Team Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Alyssa Drachslin AVCA Team Academic Award 2015 Temple Volleyball Cherry & White Challenge All-Tournament MVP - Izzy Rapacz Sandra Sydlik Kayla Yingling Philadelphia Big 5 All-Tournament Kirsten Overton

5 2016 TEMPLE VOLLEYBALL STATISTICS 2016 Temple Volleyball Temple Combined Team Statistics (as of Sep 21, 2016) All matches RECORD: OVERALL HOME AWAY NEUTRAL ALL GAMES CONFERENCE NON-CONFERENCE Attack Set Serve Dig Blocking Player sp k k/s e ta pct a a/s sa se sa/s re dig dig/s bs ba total blk/s be bhe points 1 ASCI, Irem RAPACZ, Izzy OVERTON, Kirsten DEAK, Iva DAVIS, Tyler PERIC, Dara GRATTAN, Caroline COUNDOURIDES, Kyr SIMMONS, Janine GUENNEWIG, Carla VANDEGRIFT, Hannah HEIRAKUJI, Mia TEAM TEMPLE Opponents Team Statistics TEMPLE OPP ATTACK Kills Errors Total Attacks Attack Pct Kills/Set SET Assists Assists/Set SERVE Aces Errors Aces/Set SERVE RECEPTIONS Errors Errors/Set DEFENSE Digs Digs/Set BLOCKING Block Solo Block Assist Total Blocks Blocks/Set Block Errors Ball handling errors 7 6 ATTENDANCE Total Dates/Avg Per Date 5/626 2/181 Neutral site /Avg 3/36 Current win streak 5 - Home win streak 2 - Date Opponent Score Score by set Att. Aug 26 NAU W ,18-25,25-20, Aug 27 HAMPTON W ,25-15, Sep 02 vs Virginia Tech L ,21-25,25-21,18-25, Sep 03 vs Alabama L ,25-22,21-25, Sep 09 CSU L ,22-25,22-25,25-21, Sep 10 UNH W ,25-21,18-25, Sep 10 RUTGERS W ,25-14, Sep 16 vs Villanova W ,27-25, Sep 17 at LaSalle W ,25-17,25-15, Sep 17 at PENN W ,25-16, Record in 3-set matches: 4-0 Record in 4-set matches: 3-1 Record in 5-set matches: 0-2

6 HEAD COACH BAKEER GANESHARATNAM 6th Season Queens Career Record Year Totals Overall Conf Finish 2nd AAC T-2nd AAC 6th AAC 5th A-10 8th A-10 In six years on North Broad Street, Bakeer Ganesharatnam has turned Temple volleyball into a high-level program at the top of the American. Over Ganesharatnam s tenure, Temple has continually surpassed expectations and has now proven itself as a top team in a strong conference. Most recently, Ganesharatnam s 2015 squad recorded a 24-8 overall record, including a 15-5 mark in the American Athletic Conference. The Owls finished alone in second in the conference, having defeated each conference opponent at least once during the season, while also recording seven-straight wins to close the season. The 2015 squad tied the 2014 team for wins, the program s best record since Individually, Temple boasted two American Player of the Week selections in junior Kirsten Overton and sophomore, while seven Temple players accounted for 11 American Weekly Honor Roll selections. In year-end awards, senior Sandra Sydlik, junior Kirsten Overton, and sophomore were named to the All-Conference first team, while sophomore Izzy Rapacz was named to the All-Conference second team. Ganesharatnam s stellar 2015 campaign was built off of succes the team had during a record-setting 2014 season. The Owls finished 24-8 overall, tying for second place in the American Athletic Conference, and compiling the program s best record in 12 years. The Owls had a number of big wins in 2014, including knocking off conference champion and NCAA team, UCF. As far as individual accolades, Temple earned a conference and program record five All-Conference sections in Sydlik was named to the first team, while sophomore Tyler Davis, senior Jennifer Iacobini, Overton, and freshman Dara Peric earned second-team honors. Temple also boasted the American Athletic Conference Setter of the Year in Sydlik and the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year in Peric. Sydlik later went on to earn the program s first All-Region mention since In 2013, Temple finished at overall to mark its second-straight season with a winning percentage of.600 or better. After being picked to finish seventh in the newly-created American Athletic Conference, the Owls bettered that by one and placed sixth with a record of 9-9. Ganesharatnam s 2012 squad finished at overall and advanced to the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament after not earning a spot in the tournament since The improvement from an 8-20 season in 2011 to a season in 2012 ranked as the seventh-best differential among all NCAA Division I volleyball teams. Perhaps most impressive was the similarity in personnel between the teams of 2011 and 2012, as five of seven starters returned. Chelsea Tupuola was named the A-10 Libero of the Year, while Matautia earned A-10 First Team honors. The team was largely underestimated prior to the season, getting picked to finish 11th of 12 teams in the conference. The Owls proved that placement to be undeserved, as they went on to finish fifth in the league. Among other highlights in a strong season, the Owls recorded digs per set to rank 15th among all NCAA Division I teams, and Temple won its first-ever Big 5 Tournament in the event s four-year history, defeating Penn and La Salle and taking Villanova to five sets. The success of 2012 followed a more moderate but important step in Ganesharatnam s first season. The 2011 Owls finished at 8-20 overall, a marked improvement over the season before his arrival. The team served up 78 aces in A-10 matches to lead all teams, and then-sophomore Elyse Burkert Proving that he is as committed to his student-athletes success in the classroom as he is to their success on the court, the team s grade-point-average has improved significantly in the years since Ganesharatnam s arrival. In the fall of 2010, the semester GPA for the team was Ganesharatnam took over the reins in the spring of 2011, and by the end of his first fall semester, the team posted a GPA of During the second season of competition under Ganes, the Owls posted a GPA of 3.32, and in the spring of 2013 it jumped all the way up to 3.45, showing more than a four-tenths improvement in two years. In 2014, the Owls had the highest GPA of any American Athletic Conference squad, recording a Prior to his arrival at Temple in January, 2011, Ganesharatnam spent five years as an assistant coach at West Virginia University. He served for three seasons as a full-time assistant with the Mountaineers after two prior years as a graduate assistant coach. As an assistant, Ganesharatnam served as the recruiting coordinator and worked with the players on skill development, as well as dealt with scheduling responsibilities. One year after Ganesharatnam s transition to full-time assistant, the 2009 Mountaineers finished with their best overall record in five years, 17-13, and won six Big East games which ranked as the most since In 2010 the team finished and took the title at its own WVU Classic early in the season with a perfect 4-0 record. Before his stint at WVU, Ganesharatnam served as an assistant coach at Cedar Valley College in Grand Prairie, Texas, for one season. He helped the Suns reach their co-conference championship in the season. His duties included assisting the head coach with all aspects of the program, including recruiting, practice and competition preparation, summer camps and travel arrangements, as well as alumni outreach and fundraising. In addition to his duties as an assistant coach at CVC, Ganesharatnam also served as the head coach of the 17 s ACE Elite Team at Arlington Courts in Dallas, Texas. Ganesharatnam was not a stranger to Temple when he arrived, having worked summer camps in 2005 and 2006 with former head coach Bob Bertucci. He completed his bachelor s degree in political science with minors in economics and German from Queens College in He played four years of volleyball there while pursuing his degree. While having a standout career at Queens, he was also a four-year letterwinner and helped the Knights to two conference championships. Ganesharatnam was born in Sri Lanka, but moved to Germany when he was five. He has been playing volleyball since he was nine. In Germany, he competed on a very successful club team from 1990 to 2000, VFL Sindelfingen, winning the regional championship and the state championship many times. Ganesharatnam and his team also made numerous appearances at the national championship. Ganesharatnam received his master s degree in athletic coaching education in 2007 from WVU.