Club volleyball ready for season
After preseason and a three-week layoff, the Utah State University men’s club volleyball team is preparing to begin conference play.
With the start of the spring semester, the team resumed practicing and will use the following weeks to prepare for their first tournament on Feb. 1.
Leading into the break, the Aggies finished preseason playing in two tournaments. They played at Utah Valley State College on Dec. 7 and 8 and also at the University of Utah on Dec. 13 and 14.
Outside hitter and A team captain Adam Longmore said the tournament at UVSC was the toughest tournament of the preseason and the Aggies did not play well.
“It was bad news,” he said. “We didn’t make the second round of the tournament. It was disappointing we didn’t play well against good teams.”
Both the Utah State A and B teams finished ninth at UVSC.
The following week, USU traveled to Utah for the final preseason tournament.
In a turnaround from the previous week, the A team finished second while middle blocker Tyler Bell said the B team finished sixth or seventh.
“We redeemed ourselves at Utah,” Longmore said. “We finished on a good note.”
Following the tournament at Utah, with both the preseason and the fall semester ending, the Aggies took Christmas Break off. Longmore said they did not practice as a team though some of the players did practice on their own.
“Personally, it was good to have time off to get my mind off school and volleyball,” he said. “I’m sure other players also had that feeling.”
Bell said the break gave him time to heal and relax, but he is ready to return.
“I’m pumped,” Bell said. “I have sat too much and I’m ready to get at it.”
Though the break had benefits, Longmore said he was worried the team would be slow getting back in rhythm.
After the first practice, he said that worry proved to be unfounded.
“I was impressed,” Longmore said. “It was a good practice. Everyone went hard.”
He said the team will use the next couple of weeks to continue practicing and get rid of any rust from the break.
“We continue to improve physically and in our cohesion as a team,” Longmore said. “Everyone is playing hard.”
The preparation the Aggies have done is leading them into competition in the Mountain West Volleyball Conference where the Aggies compete in the North region.
Each team within the conference must compete in the tournament for their region in addition to two other conference tournaments.
The tournament for the North, hosted by Utah, will be held March 22 and 23.
Longmore said the Aggies are also planning to compete in the Eastern region tournament held Feb. 22 and 23 at the Air Force Academy as well as the conference championship held April 5 and 6 at Northern Arizona University.
In addition to the conference matches, the Aggies will compete in other local tournaments and matches, Longmore said.
The first tournament Utah State will go to as a complete team will be Feb. 1 and 2 at Salt Lake Community College, a tournament that counts in conference standing. Longmore said there is a possibility of a USU team competing at Utah this Friday and Saturday.
Additionally, Longmore said the Aggies are working on scheduling home matches in the Spectrum in March.
These matches all serve to prepare the Aggies for the National Championship held April 18, 19 and 20 in Dallas, Texas.