July 22, 2005
FAIRFAX, Va. - Head coach Fred Chao has inked four players to National Letters of Intent to play men's volleyball at George Mason, beginning in the 2005-06 season.
Among the signees are setter Ryan Kwiatkowski, outside hitters Kyle Gramit and Ross Hedlund, and in-state player William Price.
"I am very excited to bring in such a talented group of young men to this program," expressed Chao. "I can't wait to work with them."
Kwiatkowski, who hails from Naperville, Ill. and attended Neuqua Valley High School, was recently selected a 2005 Mizuno/Volleyball Magazine Boys' High School Honorable Mention All-America. He is a 6-5 senior that was also named to Volleyball Magazine's Boys'Fab 50 senior class, which is voted on by a respected panel of college and club coaches from around the country.
Gramit was also selected to Volleyball Magazine's Boys' Fab 50 class of 2005. A 6-4 senior who attended North Naperville High School in Naperville, Ill., Gramit was a unanimous all-DuPage Valley Conference honoree at outside hitter and recorded 409 kills and 199 digs in his high school career.
Hedlund also landed on Volleyball Magazine's Boys' Fab 50 class of 2005. The 6-3 senior out of Hermitage High School in Hermitage, Va. earned recognition on the Richmond Times Dispatch 2005 boys' volleyball all-Metropolitan First Team.
Price. a 6-5 hitter out of Laytonsville, Md. who led Gaithersburg High School to Montgomery County championships the last two seasons, made the Washington Examiner all-Examiner first team three times during his high school career.
Chao, who will be assisting for a month with the USA Volleyball Junior National Team, completed his seventh season as head coach of the George Mason University men's volleyball team. The 2001 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) Coach of the Year, Chao directed the 2005 Patriots to a 19-10 overall record, a school-record 10 match win streak to start the season, runner-up EIVA regular season and tournament positions and a final national ranking of No. 14 in the country.
