front row (women) from left to right: Katherine Klabau, Michelle Natal. Back row (men) from left to right: Jim Cunningham, Joe Lee, Carl Marcellino, Ignacio Perez de la Cruz
Although Ropes &
Gray (then Reboul MacMurray) won the fall/winter counselor's
division championship in 2000-01, it languished in mediocrity
during the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons in the barrister's division
due to a lack of consistent play. The team received a huge boost
with the addition of Ignacio Perez de la Cruz to its intellectual
property department this past May. Ignacio played volleyball
in Spain and most recently with MIT's club team and brought an
abundance of skill and enthusiasm to R&G on the court.
Complementing the addition of "Iggy" (as
he is known by his teammates), setter Michelle Natal began more
forcefully directing the offense, while a new defensive scheme
was adopted to address a previous lack of proper spacing. By
mid-season, the team was shaping up and ran off several wins
in a row, often times relying on only four players-- Katherine
Klabau, Jim Cunningham, Joe Lee and Perez de la Cruz. Although
R&G lost to A division teams like Cravath and Fried Frank
near season's end, the team played competitively and felt great
headed for the playoffs. Playing its best when it counted most,
R&G did not drop a game in the post-season, although it only
narrowly defeated a very good Wilson Elser team (16-14) to clinch
the title.
|
Barristers I Division MVPs
Ropes
& Gray
Katherine Klabau, Carl Marcellino
Katherine Klabau was a standout high school volleyball player
in California. She attended Wellesley College where she played
women's rugby. She is currently a corporate paralegal at Ropes
& Gray. Katherine demonstrated
her extreme dedication to the team by cutting short a ski trip
in Utah to fly home for the championship game where she played
brilliantly in earning MVP honors.
Carl Marcellino grew up in the volleyball hotbed of Long Island
where he starred for his high school team. He attended Georgetown
University and NYU School of Law and is a fifth year corporate
associate at Ropes & Gray.
Although he is arguably one of R&G's busiest associates,
he normally finds time for his favorite activity. Carl's high
level of play during
the playoffs factored greatly in R&G's success.
Completed barristers I division Playoff
Brackett
Click Here
|
