Final goal is in sight for Aggie men’s volleyball
It’s been a long road to get into position for a run at the national championship for the No. 4 Utah State men’s club volleyball team.
And there is one more twist ahead for the team just to get to Columbus, Ohio, for the tournament.
To keep costs down, the team has had to come up with travel arrangements, that to say the least, are different. Instead of flying out of Salt Lake City, the team is going to drive to Salt Lake, rent a van, and then drive to Las Vegas. From there, the team will fly to Ohio.
On the way home, the team’s flight has a stopover in Salt Lake. The players will depart at Salt Lake and then drive their cars, which will be left in Salt Lake, home.
“It’s a necessary evil,” said libero Justin Keith. “We just have to make another sacrifice.”
The team should arrive in Columbus on Wednesday afternoon. Then the tournament begins for the 64 Division II teams Thursday with pool play.
Teams will only play teams from their own Division and will compete for separate championships.
Each pool will consist of four teams, with a total of 16 pools. The top team from each pool will advance to the upper bracket Friday, while the fourth team will be put in the bottom bracket. The second and third teams from each pool will play another second or third place team, with the winner moving into the upper bracket.
From play Friday, teams will be placed in different brackets for the championship round. The top 16 teams will be placed in the gold bracket for a shot at the national championship.
Based on its ranking, No. 4 in Division II, the Aggies should have a good seeding for the first round.
“[The seeding] is going to help us tremendously,” Keith said. “We will, on the first day, play teams that are less experienced. This will allow us to warm up, get in a groove, and build confidence.”
Teams in the country choose to play in a division based upon the level of competition they desire. The Aggies are near the top of Division II, but they have the experience of playing against top Division I teams all season.
At the championship, though, with teams only playing within their division, having played top teams will be an important experience aspect for the Aggies, but middle blocker Joe Anderson said he didn’t necessarily see it as an advantage.
“I think all the other teams will have had a lot of the same experience,” he said. “It’s hard to say whether we have an advantage. For us, it’s going to make us more competitive and ready to play those tough games.”
One of the biggest variables will be consistency, though.
Anderson said when the team has played consistently, it has won. At their conference tournament, the Aggies took fifth, but went 5-1, losing only to Colorado in the first round of tournament play.
He said the team played as well as it has all season at that tournament, with the exception of the one loss.
If consistency can be held, though, Anderson said he thinks the championship is within Utah State’s reach.
“If we play our game, I think we’ll win,” he said. “We need to be consistent. I almost guarantee if we don’t win the national championship, we will look back and say we didn’t play our best. If we stay consistent, we’ll win.”
In helping staying consistent, Anderson said he felt the team’s age and experience is a big asset.
“I’d that we’ve got a lot of maturity on the team,” he said. “Our guys on the team are a little bid older – mid 20s a lot of us. I don’t think we’ll become rattled in tough situations.”
If desire plays a role in the consistency, the Aggies shouldn’t have a problem playing their game.
Keith said the players feel they have a realistic shot at the championship, and anything less will be a disappointment.
“Most of our guys are just hungry and have been looking toward this tournament all year,” he said.
-slbk5@cc.usu.edu