The men’s volleyball
club went undefeated in pool play before falling to University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the semi-finals of the tournament
that was played Nov. 8 and 9.
Among the teams they defeated in the pool play, the matches before
the tournament, were North Carolina State University, Lee College
and a team of older men that included an ex-professional beach volleyball
player.
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte defeated UNCCH in
the finals of the tournament.
As a member of the EIZA Southern Conference this year, the men’s
team was able to compete in a variety of tournaments in preparation
for their season, which begins next semester. Due to some unfortunate
circumstances, however, the team will not be competing in any more
tournaments this school year.
Team captain Jared P. Ambrose, who grew up playing volleyball in
Saugus, Ca, coaches the team. He is aided by sophomore Julius S.
Milani.
Ambrose said the team would continue to practice four hours a week
next semester, but they would not be able to compete in any tournaments.
Part of the reason for the cancelled tournament play is graduation
and a lack of players with volleyball experience.
“I have nine years of volleyball experience,” Ambrose
said. “I’m also the only one on the team with any high
school experience because [volleyball] is not offered as a high
school sport in North Carolina. It’s tough going up against
teams like Virginia [Polytechnic and State University] because they
have forty of fifty guys trying out of the team.”
With an influx of new freshmen coming to the team, the volleyball
club has a chance to be good for quite some time.
“We have about six or seven new freshmen on the team this year,
and they all want to play ball,” Ambrose said. “That’s
what we need. We have good talent; it’s just a matter of people
wanting to play. With everyone leaving, it just seems like every
year is re-building process.”
With no tournaments next semester, the practices will be used to
help the team become more cohesive. After the semester of practicing,
Ambrose believes that the team will be poised to be very competitive.
The team hopes to begin tournament play again next year.
“Traveling to tournaments gives the team an opportunity to
go places that we’ve never been before,” Ambrose said.
“We’ve taken road trips to play at places such as Virginia
Tech and Ohio State [University]. It really adds to the camaraderie
of the team.”
With the new talent and a full semester of practicing, the team
hopes to not only go to more tournaments like that in the future,
but also to be able to compete with the best schools that play in
them. |
