April 15, 2008
2008 EIVA All-East Team in PDF Format 
2008 EIVA All-Academic Team in PDF Format
FAIRFAX, Va. - No. 12 George Mason was recognized for another successful season on the court with six players named to the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association All-East Team, including three on the First Team. In addition to the All-East honors, Head Coach Fred Chao was named the EIVA Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.
Chao was also named the EIVA Coach of the Year during the 2001 season, when the Patriots posted a 20-7 overall record before falling in the semifinals of the conference tournament. This season, George Mason wrapped up its regular season with a 19-7 overall record and 9-3 mark in EIVA Tait Division matches to clinch the second seed in the upcoming EIVA Championship Tournament. The Patriots defeated five teams that were ranked in the Top-15 at the time of the match, including a win over No. 1 and previously undefeated Penn State in early March. Mason was ranked in every single Top-15 Poll during the season and remains the only team to beat the Nittany Lions during the entire 2008 season. A win in the semifinal match of the conference tournament would give Chao the 150th win of his 10-year coaching tenure at George Mason.
Three Patriots were named to the EIVA All-East First-Team, which consisted of six student-athletes from Penn State, three from George Mason and one from Princeton. Senior outside hitter
Hudson Bates, junior opposite hitter
Kyle Gramit and senior middle blocker
R.J. Goubeaux were all named First-Team performers.
The selection is Bates third to the EIVA All-East team and his second to the First Team. During the season, he was a two-time EIVA Tait Division Player of the Week award winner and a Volleyball Hall of Fame Morgan Classic All-Tournament Team member. He ranked ninth in the EIVA in kills per game with an average of 3.81 per game, which ranked second on the team to Gramit. He also ranked second on the team in points per game with an average of 4.46.
Gramit earns his second consecutive selection to the First Team this season. The Naperville, Ill. native ranks in the top-10 in the nation in kills per game (sixth, 4.68) and points per game (sixth, 5.70). He is also among the national leaders in blocks per game and aces per game, ranking 17th in both categories with an average of 1.24 blocks per game and 0.36 aces per game. He was named the EIVA Tait Division Player of the Week on Jan. 30 and was also a member of the Volleyball Hall of Fame Morgan Classic All-Tournament Team along with Bates.
Goubeaux was named to the all-conference team for the first time in his career this season on the strength of his impressive blocking totals. Goubeaux leads the nation in blocks per game with an average of 1.63 per game (11 BS, 145 BA). Along with his prowess at the net, the Lockport, N.Y. native is first on the team in hitting percentage among players with 100 or more kills with a percentage of .372 and is third on the team in points per game with an average of 2.96.
Joining Bates, Gramit and Goubeaux on the EIVA All-East Team as Second-Team members were senior outside hitter Mark Burik, sophomore setter Ryan Kwiatkowski and sophomore libero Luke Maloney. It is the second consecutive Second-Team honor for Burik.
Burik has one of the top serves in the nation, ranking 12th in NCAA Division I-II men's volleyball with an average of 0.43 service aces per game. On Senior Night at the Fieldhouse this past Saturday against NJIT, Burik shined in his final appearance in front of the home fans, serving a career-high seven aces, which ties him for the third-highest single-match total in the history of the men's volleyball program. For his efforts in Saturday's victory and Mason's win against Princeton on Friday to clinch the second seed in the conference tournament, Burik was selected as the EIVA Tait Division Player of the Week for the first time this season. A student-athlete who also excels in the classroom, Burik was named to the EIVA All-Academic Team for the third consecutive year as well.
Earning his first selection to the All-East Team was Kwiatkowski, who ranked among the top setters in the nation with an average of 11.80 assists per game to finish the regular season 12th in the country, while leading the Patriots with 1,027 assists. Joining Burik and Kwiatkowski on the Second Team was Maloney, who excelled at the libero spot with an average of 1.43 digs per game and a reception percentage of .942 on 447 attempts.
George Mason and Penn State both had the highest total number of student-athletes on the All-East Team with six members. Penn State's Matt Anderson won the Uvaldo Acosta Player of the Year award and his teammate Dennis Del Valle earned Newcomer of the Year honors.
