Men’s volleyball club to open home season in Spectrum Friday
The Utah State University men’s club volleyball, after opening their preseason on Saturday against Weber State University, will have their first home match on Friday in the Spectrum.
Against Weber State, both the USU A and B teams were victorious. The Utah State A team won their match in five games, 3-2, while the B team swept the Weber B team 2-0.
On Wednesday, USU will be holding a Blue-White scrimmage between their A and B teams, before having their first home match on Friday against Weber.
The scrimmage will be at 7 p.m. in the Spectrum and will give fans their first opportunity to see the team.
On Friday, both the Utah State A and B teams will have rematches against Weber. The USU A team will play at 3 p.m. in the Spectrum while the B team will play Weber’s B team at 7 p.m. in the HPER Building.
“Weber is better this year,” A team captain Adam Longmore said. “We expect most teams to be better. Every year the competition gets better.”
Saturday the Aggies will play again as both the A and B teams meet BYU-Idaho. The first match begins at 7 p.m. with the second match immediately following. Both matches will be held in the Spectrum.
B team captain Justin Keith said the team is looking forward to playing at home this year. Last year the Aggies only had one home match but already have a home tournament scheduled in addition to the three matches this week.
“We really pushed for it,” Keith said of the opportunity to play at home.
Longmore said, “We’re trying to get as many home matches as we can.”
The Aggies will play preseason matches and tournaments throughout the fall semester until the middle of December. Preseason rankings are then released.
The regular season starts in January and continues through April. Following the regular season, teams qualify for nationals depending on their performance.
Keith said this year’s team is a little taller than last year and also a little more orderly. Unlike last year, the Aggies have a coach. Loren Finn, who is also an assistant with the Utah State women’s volleyball team, will be coaching the team this season.
“We have more structured practices and more commitment this year,” Keith said.
The Aggies have 13 new players this year to go along with 10 returning players.
“We have a lot of talent,” Keith said. “We have some good returning players and some good new players.”
Longmore said, “I think we’re better this year. I’m confident in our players and confident in our coaches. I think we’ll have a successful year.”
Keith said the team will have setter Greg Jorgenson back on the team. Jorgenson was injured last spring in a car accident while the team was traveling to the National Championships in Kansas City, Mo.
“We’re glad to have him back,” Keith said.
This weekend, Keith said he hopes to see a good turnout at the team’s home matches.
“We had a decent turnout last year,” Keith said. “It is fun to play at home.”