The men’s and women’s club volleyball teams have both had successful starts to their seasons. The women are currently ranked first in their league and the men have had successful preseason scrimmages in preparation for their first official games.
“It’s been going really well for us overall,” junior women’s volleyball club president Kate Demaree said. “We’re number one in our league currently [and] we have been averaging top middle in our tournaments, which is really good.”
The women have had four tournaments this semester and on average they have been scoring in third place. Most recently, they placed fourth at their last tournament.
The men’s team is also confident about its upcoming season.
“[The] season’s been great,” junior men’s volleyball club president Blake Hyatt said. “Right now, it’s preseason. We’ve had a pretty… even win-loss rate — very back and forth. I don’t think that reflects how we’ll actually show up in the season because we’re trying a lot of different approaches and trying to find the best ones.”
While each team is at different points in the season, they have both had highlight moments.
“I think one of the best moments was at our last tournament,” Demaree said. “It was at Lehigh and we were playing Lehigh the Saturday before [the Rivalry game], so it was really hyped, and was one of the best games we ever played. We lost, unfortunately.”
Despite the disappointing ending, Demaree was impressed.
“We played so well and it was just a really great energy,” she said.
Men’s volleyball also had some successful moments in its preseason this semester.
“We’re starting to do what I would consider advanced attacks,” Hyatt said. “We’re running pipes — which is somebody jumping from the back — synchronized attacks and using our right side more.”
Hyatt explained the team has been focusing on building the team dynamics and improving their tactics on the court.
“I adore all of our freshmen [and] watching them integrate with the team,” Hyatt said.
While the teams are happy with the start of their seasons, there have been some challenges as well.
“We played Villanova [at the Lehigh tournament] and our energy dipped so low and we lost that game really badly,” Demaree said. “It was really hard for us just because we usually have dips in between the first half and second half just because we’re all really tired. That was the worst it had been all season.”
Demaree noted that the women’s team had a discussion after the game to check in with each of the players in order to regroup for the next game. She hopes the team members will be able to encourage each other and maintain energy throughout matches moving forward.
“Sometimes we just get in a lull, so [we want to be] a lot more supportive especially on the court in the middle of a game because it can be hard to step outside your mind,” Demaree said.
Both teams are hopeful they will be able to win a tournament this year. The women have finished all of their tournaments for the semester, but they are on track to make regionals next semester. The men will officially begin their season in the new year.
