Men’s volleyball looks for success in second tournament in as many weeks
Friday and Saturday the Utah State University men’s club volleyball team will be at Salt Lake Community College to compete in its second tournament of the season.
Both the Utah State A and B teams will be traveling to Salt Lake to compete.
Last Friday and Saturday, the Aggies hosted 16 teams in the HPER Building. The USU A team finished third while the B team finished seventh.
The B team also played an exhibition match on Tuesday, falling to the Idaho State University A team in five games.
At SLCC, the tournament will consist of pool play on Friday night then move on to a double elimination tournament on Saturday.
The Aggies expect to see primarily the same teams they hosted at their tournament, including local club teams as well as university club teams such as Utah Valley State College and the University of Utah.
In their tournament, the Aggies lost to Utah in the championship game of the winners’ bracket, but look forward to getting a chance for a rematch at the SLCC tournament.
“Hopefully they’ll be there,” A team captain Adam Longmore said. “If they are, we expect to see them again in the finals.”
Though the preseason tournaments do not count toward rankings, Longmore said they give the team a chance to gain some experience and work on their game.
“The more experience we get the better we get,” opposite Philip Swenson said.
There are also several areas in their game the Aggies are looking to improve.
“We need to play together as a team,” outside hitter Jake Diem said. “Everyone has to do their part.”
Longmore said, “We need to be consistent.”
Middle blocker TJ Moss said, “We have a lot to work but we still have tournaments to get there in the preseason. The main thing we need to work on is to be more effective on our passing.”
Compared to last season, Diem said the Aggies are an improved team and are about where they want to be at this point in the season.
“We have really improved from last season,” Diem said. “Having Loren [Finn] as a coach really has helped us.”
Following the tournament at SLCC the Aggies will play in two more preseason tournaments in December before the regular season begins in January.