2006-07 News Archives
LORETTO, Pa. (Jan. 21, 2007) - It will be
difficult for Saint Francis senior men's volleyball player
Marc Honore (San Fernando, Trinidad / Naparima) to
top his performance from the 2006 season.
But there is no doubt that he is off to a pretty good start in the
2007 season.
Honore, who played this past summer for the Trinidad & Tobago
national team, led the 2006 version of the Red Flash to 17 wins and
their first-ever appearance in the Eastern Intercollegiate
Volleyball Association (EIVA) championship match.
He was named to the 2006 EIVA All-East First Team, and then earned
a spot on the EIVA All-Championship team along with former teammate
Jim Fazzini. He set single-season school records in kills (337) and
hitting percentage (.502), and his 139 blocks were the second-most
for a season.
Many EIVA coaches may have had nightmares all summer long knowing
that they must face Honore, and his Saint Francis teammates, again
this season. They won't be comforted to know that Honore's per game
totals are still going up through the first five matches this
season.
The Red Flash are currently 3-2 after defeating Ball State for the
second time this season, on Sunday. They defeated D'Youville to
open the season, traveled to No. 15 Ball State and knocked them out
of the national rankings with a 3-1 upset, and then completed the
home-and-away sweep against the Cardinals on Sunday, before a crowd
of 302 at DeGol Arena. Saint Francis' only losses have come against
ranked teams, No. 7 IPFW and No. 12 Ohio State. For the first time
in school history, the Red Flash received votes in last week's
CSTV/AVCA Division I-II Men's Top-15 Coaches Poll.
Honore has played a large role in the national respect that Saint
Francis is receiving. His 4.62 kills per game are up from 3.96 last
season, while his .535 hitting percentage (.502 in 2006), 0.56
service aces per game (0.32 in 2006) and 1.94 blocks per game (1.64
in 2006) are also up.
Saint Francis lost last year's EIVA title match, 3-0, against No. 1
seed Penn State, at Rec Hall, but the experience left a hunger and
desire for more.
"Last season was amazing," said Honore, who is considered a
candidate for All-America and EIVA Player-of-the-Year honors. "We
were blessed to have that many victories. We really worked hard as
a team to achieve all that we did, and the seniors this year have
the same mentality. We now have that experience of having played at
the EIVA championship level. We won't be starry-eyed once we get to
the playoffs again this year. We've got a good mix of youth and
experience and leadership. This year, by the time we get to the
EIVA playoffs, we have a chance to be a very good team and a force
to be reckoned with. This time, we hope to get to the EIVA
Championship and upset Penn State, George Mason or whoever we
play."
That would be quite an accomplishment for the nation's
second-smallest NCAA Division I school. An EIVA Championship would
include an automatic bid into the National Collegiate Championship,
which is men's volleyball's version of the Final Four.
Experience will be on the side of the Red Flash, who also return starters Travis Fox (senior), Shane Conley (sophomore) and Zach Nanni (senior) from the 2006 squad. Freshmen Pat McManamon, Nick Rivett and Jordan Varee have also made an immediate impact on the team.
Honore credits his teammates, former and current, for putting him in position to be considered the best volleyball player in school history. He already owns the school's all-time kills (797) and hitting percentage (.440) records, and he is five blocks and 11 service aces shy of breaking those respective records.
"It's quite an honor knowing what we have accomplished at Saint Francis," Honore said. "I have enjoyed playing with these guys. It has been a long struggle for us because we didn't do so well my first couple years. But we have gotten better and better. My teammates help me to perform. Volleyball is a true team sport. In order to achieve all that I have, it's a tribute to my teammates. I do my part and if I break records that's great, but all that really matters are the wins. We have goals this season, and one of the biggest goals, for me at least, is to get ranked in the Top 15 in the nation. That would mean a great deal to me because that is respect for our program. I think we deserve it, and we are capable of it."
Honore fine-tuned his game last summer by playing at the national level, competing for his native Trinidad & Tobago national team. They competed in the Pan Am Tournament, hoping to qualify for next summer's Pan Am Games, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Trinidad & Tobago, and Honore, played matches in Columbia, Cuba, Mexico and the Bahamas, winning one match against Barbados. It was Trinidad & Tobago's first-ever competition at that level. The team will find out in the coming weeks whether it has qualified for the Pan Am Games. Honore, who is the only member of the Trinidad & Tobago team who is competing in the NCAA, would be a member of the national team if they qualify for the Pan Am Games.
Honore has a lot to look forward to, but he says that his only focus right now is on Saint Francis' next match on Friday, at No. 15 George Mason.
"It's a long season, and you can't look forward to some of the matches later in the season," he said. "But I am really anxious about the George Mason match because we don't have a very good record (2-25) against them. We came back to beat them (in the 2006 EIVA semifinals) when it really mattered last year. But it's important to do well against them in our home-and-away matches with them this season. I'm looking forward to this match before anything else. That is all that is really on my mind right now."