By Christina Vazquez–Last year Morningside College’s Men’s Volleyball team went 11-17 in its debut season. Now that they have had their test run, men’s volleyball is looking forward to the upcoming season.
Head coach Scott Tschetter backs his players’ desire to aim high. Last year, men’s volleyball at Morningside was brand new and going against established teams, so the path ahead was uncertain.
Going into this second season, expectations are no longer ambiguous. Tschetter comments, “I think we’re going to win a lot more.”
“There’s an interesting group dynamic to the team,” says Tschetter. “[The new players] have been embraced by those that have been here for a year.” Teams revolve around recruiting, and the coach is confident their team is comprised of a “solid group of young men, both on and off the field.”
Team captain Braden Hall is also excited about the results of the recruitment efforts for the upcoming season. He believes that this year, “[they have] got the missing pieces of the puzzle.”
Hall shares what is was like to be part of the program in its first year. “It was a scary feeling at first.” The feelings weren’t all negative, though. The good outweighed the bad. Hall went on to say, “It also felt good to be a part of something new and bigger than me.”
Hall, now in his junior year, transferred to Morningside in his sophomore year to play volleyball. On a personal level, he says, “it’s a lot of sacrifice.” Originally from Fairbanks, Alaska, Hall left family and friends behind to follow his passion of playing volleyball.
Nevertheless, playing is not a lonely pursuit. A common consensus amongst the men’s volleyball team is that they’re a family in themselves. When sophomore Jacob Waln transferred to Morningside to join the volleyball team, he had some concerns about breaking into the (though new) already formed team. However, contrary to his expectations, he found the group to be open and welcoming.
As for the upcoming season, given the good record starting out and the fact they have 23 players now, Waln looks to it with positivity. He sees no reason for them not to succeed.
Freshman Elijah Magat echoes the sentiments of his teammates. He too came to Morningside with volleyball as a primary motivation. He is excited to be part of such a relatively new establishment at the college. Magat says, “[I feel like I’m part of] history in the making.”
As to how the team works, Magat remarks that “the sport requires good connection with each other” and he thinks that the men’s volleyball team definitely fulfills that need. In fact, and because of this, he sees no reason for the team not to go undefeated in the season to come.
As a whole, the men’s volleyball team looks forward to their second season with a confidence and optimism that bodes well for their games come January of 2016.
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