Newsline  

Preview to the Final Four Comming to Hilbert

local talent returns to WNY for volleyball showcase
Release Date:
November 10, 2008
Contact:
The Office of Sports Information
(716) 649-7900 ext. 333

HAMBURG, NY—Hilbert College is set to host the first evening of the 16th annual men’s Preview to the Final Four volleyball showcase. The three day event will feature 2008 National Champion Penn State as well as National Runner-up Pepperdine University. Other Division I powers, George Mason University and Loyola of Chicago, will participate in what is sure to be the area’s premier men’s volleyball event of the year. Several local players will be returning to Western New York for this showcase including Williamsville North graduate Max Lipsitz (Penn State), Eden graduate Joe Norton (George Mason) and Orchard Park product JJ Pincowski (Loyola Chicago).

The event will kick off Friday, November 14, at Hilbert College’s Hafner Recreation Center. Hilbert will host Fredonia State at 5:00 p.m. while Pepperdine will square off against Loyola of Chicago at 7:00 p.m.

Day two of the event will take place Saturday, November 15, at Webster High School in Rochester, N.Y. There will be a players clinic from 8:30-11:30 a.m. followed by lunch with Marv Dunphy, the head coach at Pepperdine University, from 11:30-1:00 p.m. Saturday, there will be four matches played at Webster Schroeder High School. At 1:00 p.m., Penn State will take on Loyola Chicago and, at 3:00 p.m., Pepperdine will square off against George Mason. The night cap will pit George Mason against Loyola at 5:00 p.m., with Penn State vs. Pepperdine to follow at 7 p.m.

Sunday’s action will take place at the Buffalo Niagara Center Courts in West Seneca, with a players and coaches clinic to take place from 9:00-11:30 a.m., to be followed by George Mason vs. Penn State at 12:30 p.m.

Tickets are $8.00 for adults and $6.00 for students for all the matches. Tickets for the clinics can be purchased for $25.00 and include a match ticket with each purchase. All tickets will be available at the door of each event or can be purchased in advance at Hot Shots Volleyball Club or at the T-Shirt Express at 1044 University Ave. in Rochester. Team orders may be purchased through the Pace-Bootlegger Volleyball Club at www.pacebootlegger.com


Hilbert College, located in suburban Hamburg, N.Y., south of Buffalo, is a private four-year college founded in 1957 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition. With nearly 1,100 students, Hilbert is a dynamic Western New York college that offers career-focused majors, including one of the top criminal justice programs in the region, and more than 50 minors and concentrations. The college’s engaging, student-centered campus community offers numerous leadership, internship and service learning opportunities from which students launch successful careers while making positive changes in their communities. Hilbert has expanded its academic offerings with the college’s first graduate programs, one a master’s in criminal justice administration and the other a master’s in public administration, and new Accelerated Degree Programs geared to adult learners.