Make Each Day Your Masterpiece.

Coach Dave

2011-08-02T22:43:00.003-04:00

Amazing how fast three years can go by. As a matter of fact, in three years I'll be 29 - the same age Coach David Hildebrandt was when he was taken from us on August 3rd, 2008. For whatever reason, I find myself constantly reminded of my mortality when I think about that statistic. I do my best to live in the now and leave a positive impact on as many people as possible knowing that.

The sport of volleyball has played a huge role in my life both on and off the court. It's allowed me to travel all over the country, and in one situation even overseas to Europe. Almost all (including my current one) my jobs have come from connections I've made through volleyball. A large amount of my dating life can be attributed to meeting girls while playing the sport. Most importantly though, I've made a lot of incredible friends and learned a lot of lessons from the socializing with players and coaches. In the 2 years I played for him, Dave played a pivotal role for both those categories. Dave made me a better player, a better coach, and a better person. He taught me some lessons intentionally, others accidentally (or so I think - perhaps he was better than I realize).

Dave taught me the value of hard work. He inherited a program that lost 56 matches in a row over a span of 3 years. They were one of two men's volleyball programs in the country who had to play in a gym off campus that wasn't their own. His budget was low while tuition for incoming students was high. You can look at a lot of low-level Division III institutions and see that they simply want a coach that can stay out of the red, keep the kids in class, and keep from embarrassing the program. And honestly, Dave could have done that and probably have kept his job at Newbury as long as he wanted. But he didn't. He recruited relentlessly, finally getting a couple solid recruits and building a strong foundation out of them. He used the internet to find kids from far away during a time where many people weren't doing it. The program started to win games, and he continued to build on it. When he left, the team had finished 6th in the nation, and even after his departure (and despite the best efforts of the coaches that have followed him - and I feel no guilt in saying that) - his recruiting classes never finished with less than 20 wins. His last class graduated this last spring, and in my mind, it will not be the same until someone with the same drive and determination comes in with the same drive and determination he brought every day.

(Before I go to the next point, the only coach I've played a sport for that I would put in front of Dave, my father, drilled the same lesson home. Dave just solidified it in my older years. Needed to be addressed before someone relayed this back to him and my phone began ringing angrily :))

Dave taught me the importance of effort. More specifically, never setting a ceiling and continuing to raise the bar. He certainly didn't coach us all the same way, and doing so would have been catastrophic. What Dave did do for all of us equally is constantly push us to be better and better. Sometimes, I felt he was being hardest on me when I was playing some of my best ball: It was as if he had a sense that I could become complacent, and wanted to make sure that I never lost that drive to continually improve. Dave may not (OK - he didn't. He knew the x's and o's of the game, but his ability to teach mechanics was sketchy at best) have had the highest volleyball IQ, but the players on that team that bought into what he was selling can look themselves in the mirror and know the made the most of their time with him to be the best they could be. I look at film from my first matches and Newbury compared to my last, and the transformation is astounding. His ability to not let me settle was crucial in that process.

Dave taught me about agreeing to disagree. I know I've touched on this in the past, but for those that haven't read it, during my time playing for Dave I was labeled as being a bit of a "golden boy" as he didn't chew me out too often at practices/in games. Part of the reason this was the case was because I spent hours each day in his office between classes, constantly talking ball and arguing back and forth about our philosophies, what was going on with the team, things going on with me individually, or whatever the hot topic was that day. We were passionate about how we felt, and we were stubborn: I would say we agreed on 25% at best. However, once practice time came and we hit the floor, I didn't hold his opinions against him, and he didn't hold mine against me. I respected his role as coach, and while he certainly didn't have to, he never took anything I said or did in that office and used it against me at practice. I don't think I've ever had a coach more willing to butt heads, yet able to avoid letting it affect the player/coach relationship on the court. Of all the compliments I've received during my years coaching, many have said that I'm very personable, and that is a direct result of how Dave interacted with me during some of my most opinionated years of my life. A lesser coach could have absolutely botched that situation.

Dave taught me about forgiveness. After he told me on the phone he was leaving for Elms, I all but hung up on him, giving him one-word answers the rest of the conversation and a cold goodbye. I was lucky enough to be able to visit Boston the last week he was working at Newbury, and stopped in his office on his last day. He could have shut the door on me, or blown me off, but he didn't. I sat in the chair across from him as I always did, and we talked about everything that came to our minds for 2 hours. I had to leave, shook his hand, thanked him for everything and wished him luck at Elms, and was out the door. A week later he was gone, and that was the last time I spoke with Dave.

I struggle with his death to this day. Not a week goes by where something doesn't remind me of him, or that I don't want to call him on the phone and ask for advice. And that was after he gave me a little closure by not holding my selfishness against me that last visit. I had no right to be angry at him for doing what he would have wanted us to do in his position. He understood that better than I could at the time. Had I not seen him that last time, my demons regarding his passing would have been a LOT more vicious.

I am not very religious anymore, but I do believe we all serve a purpose and impact others with everything we do. It is easy for me in my weaker moments to get angry and wonder why Dave was taken from us before he even turned 30. In the big picture, I will probably never get the answer for that. Instead, I simply know that finding me and bringing me to Newbury had an impact on my life that I could never repay him for, even if he was still here. While he is no longer around, his lessons resonate in my life.

Rest in peace Dave. You are never forgotten.

Blogging - Take 2.

2011-06-29T23:58:00.003-04:00

Amazing how things can change so quickly. At the age of 26, I look back on posts I've written over the years and how my goals and views on life have changed. After a long struggle to find a new title after coming to terms with the fact that I would not have a career as an indoor player, I have decided on one of my favorite John Wooden quotes (all quotes actually) of all time.

Although the blog will continue to focus on volleyball, I will also open up a bit more about personal happenings compared to what I had done previously. Volleyball is a huge part of my life - it's brought many people into my lives that have made me a better person, and I hope that I have been able to have a similar influence on many teammates, players I've coached, or simply players I've shared the court with. After putting my two weeks in at Mercer (more on that shortly), I was able to find a job 9 days later because of networking I had done in the volleyball community back in Chicago. As a matter of fact, while I have been lucky to be employed the majority of my life, almost every job I have gotten has been due to friendships I have made in the community - and I've even been able to return the favor by helping others obtain employment as well.

I've had many highs and many lows - and the valleys have been deep. However, I've always been able to keep focused on the present and push through, usually with the aid of others close to me, or even simply finding inspiration through reading other people's experiences. I hope to perhaps use this blog as a way to return the favor.

For now, let me give a cliff notes' version of the last 6 months and then I'll go into more detail next time (REALLY gonna try to make posts daily - but I know I've said that before). Realized Division I Coaching was not for me, put my two weeks in, came home, found a job a week and a half later (which I LOVE) - currently living in LaGrange Park with stepdad but hoping to move to Naperville in the near future. Played indoor this spring, slowly started to get back into shape, playing sand now and feeling like I'm having a pretty good season. Working on registering a business that runs camps/clinics/tournaments. Happier than I've been in a long time.

More to come later!

Coaching at the Division I level: Off the Court

2010-09-08T10:06:00.004-04:00

I'll skip the usual apology for laziness regarding updating the blog: I've actually had MANY situations that I'd like to write about, but to be honest I feel it's best to keep it in private at times, so I've been doing quite a bit of self-reflection. If you're curious feel free to msg me privately and I'll tell you all about it.

In August, I packed my car up and drove down to Georgia to begin graduate classes/assistant coaching for Mercer University, a Division I program that competes in the Atlantic Sun conference. At 25, this is probably the highest level of coaching I can get to, and I was very excited for the opportunity.

As someone who has coached junior college and Division III programs, I really was unsure of what to expect. Looking back on this last month, it was probably the opposite of what I expected (not that it's a bad thing). The first thing that blew my mind was how much heavier the administrative side is. Setting up pre-season, tape exchanges, itineraries for weekends we travel as well as other office work takes up the majority of my time, compared to my other gigs where as an assistant I was basically at practices and that was the extent of what I did. I've learned an incredible amount in the 5 weeks I've been here, and feel that when I leave the school for other ventures, I will be much more knowledgeable that I was when I arrived.

The facilities are amazing: The girls play in a huge arena, the training facilities are top notch, and the workout room has everything they need (it's a bit small for big teams like Lacrosse, but with 15 players we have no space issues). They along with every other team have their own lounge (we share ours with softball, so technically I suppose it isn't all ours), with nice couches and a projector screen to watch tv or game film. I wish these girls could come back with me on a visit to Newbury to truly appreciate how lucky they are, because there's not much "wanting" being done around here!

Classes started 2 weeks ago and I'm enjoying it - it's a lot of work, but the class sizes are small, the teachers are much more personable, and the classmates are very engaged. It's rough in the aspect of you have class once a week from 4:30-8:45 at night, but I do enjoy how that gives me more time to focus on coaching. I'd be lying if I didn't say it's tough to find a balance, but my teachers understand and I'm doing my best to find a happy medium.

The weather here is wonderful - hot and humid, and although some of the locals don't like the humidity I'll take this over snow any day. The only gripe I have with Macon is the bugs... cockroaches are generally accepted here. Creep the hell out of me. I don't think that'll be one of the things I get used to. I've only found 2 in my apartment, I caught one and launched him outside, the next one wasn't so lucky. Nor will any future ones that decide they want to free-load off of us.

I do miss home. There's no doubt about it. The people here are VERY nice, but once I get done with my obligations, all I want to do is go to my room and correspond with people back in Chicago, which is odd because I didn't feel that way at all in Boston. Perhaps it's a bunch of events that took place while I was home the last 7 months, but it'd take a hell of a job offer for me not to head back there once my time's done here.

Although I have more to write, Joe Trinsey (former college opponent who gave me a nudge to update the blog) had a good idea for me to break updates up into separate posts rather than be as long-winded as usual. I'll take his advice. Next time I'll talk a little more about what happens on the court!

Summer Recap

2010-07-22T11:48:00.002-04:00

Although I have been terrible with the lack of updates this summer, discovering that a few of my relatives have blogs of their own and catching up on their lives has inspired me to take the time to give a cliff-notes version of how the summer has gone (their blogs have also re-inforced the fact that my blog is UGLY on the eyes - I may be contacting them for a little help on cleaning it up!). With about 2 weeks left before I begin the next chapter of my life, it's time to reflect on the last few months.

Graduate School: Although the process took MUCH longer than expected, I am officially accepted into the Masters of Collaborative Education program at Mercer University in Macon, GA! I'll serve as the Graduate Assistant for their women's volleyball team, which competes at the Division I level. I leave in two weeks, and will be beginning my duties upon arriving the first week of August. I am sad to leave Chicago yet again, but am very excited for the chance to coach this team. The coach and I share similar philosophies, the players are dedicated and are hungry to bounce back from last season, and the campus is gorgeous. I look forward to helping the team reach its goals!

Volleyball (Player): It has been the most successful season of my brief doubles career by far. Started it off with a personal-best in a pro tournament 7th place in Michigan. Took a 9th at my first EVP tournament of the season. Took 3rd in the Open division of the Volleywood tournament, and had my partner's leg not decided to cramp we may have won it the way we were playing. Won both co-ed tournaments I played, and plan on 3-peating this Sunday. The last tournament of the year for me is the Corona Wide Open on July 31st, and although the competition is going to be tough, I feel that my partner is strong and the old-school rules with the big court will cater to our playing style.

This is the first season I was able to get in the sand earlier than May, and boy did it pay off. I've been able to practice with some of Chicago's best talent, and have taken games off of players I couldn't touch the last few years. Although my quest for a blocker didn't work out at the beginning of the season, I believe I've given myself a good enough reputation where I'll have options the next sand season (getting one for my last tournament is something I'm definitely excited for!). Perhaps most exciting is the fact that I may have a sponsor that will allow me to travel and compete on the AVP tour next season, which would be a BIG step forward. Keep your fingers crossed!

Summer Clinics: I ran a ton of lessons this summer, and really enjoyed watching players progress. Last weekend I played a tournament where a few of my players made their doubles debut, and one team won their division while the other took a 3rd place. It was great to see them get some positive results from all the hard work they put in, and my only regret is that I won't get to watch them progress the next 2 years. With their work ethic, I have no doubt they'll continue to move up!

Although I was hoping for a longer post, I've got to get moving - but I have some other thoughts cluttering my mind which I'll share in the near future. Until next time...

2 last things:

1) As mentioned earlier, while I like the content I put in this blog, it could use a facelift regarding how it looks. Anyone have any experience with this that would be willing to help?

2) Most of you probably have heard the saying "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans". Obviously, things have changed a bit since I first started writing this blog. Although I'm not against the possibility, my plans for the future at the moment do not include playing indoor in Europe. That being said, I could use a new name for the blog. Suggestions are welcome :)

Woodenisms

2010-06-05T08:06:00.000-04:00

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5249709 - ESPN has a lot of other great articles from people that were close to him, give it a look!

Coach, Teacher, Hero: Rest in Peace John Wooden

2010-06-05T07:08:00.003-04:00

If I had a "Mount Rushmore" of the mentors that have helped shape me as a player, coach, and human being, the four people would be my father, John Wooden, Dave Hildebrandt (first coach at Newbury) and Bob Vilsoet (Women's coach at Harper that talked me into playing again when I was 19). Woke up at 5:45 am today to turn on ESPN for news that I had been preparing myself for since yesterday: John Wooden died of natural causes at the age of 99.

Where to even start? My father set a strong foundation for how to conduct yourself as an athlete both on and off the court, but John Wooden's books really took it to the next level for me. I remember picking up a John Wooden book for the first time in September of 2006. It took me two days to read his book about the Pyramid of Success which he created, and it completely blew my mind.

He won 10 NCAA National Championships in 12 years, but winning was never discussed. Effort was his focus, playing with class, never criticizing a fellow teammate. His quotes are timeless: "Be quick, but don't hurry" "Failure to prepare is preparing to fail", and so many more will stay with me until the day I die. Even at the age of 98, he wrote a book about mentoring, and although he talked a lot about sports figures, he also talked about how people can influence those off the court, discussing some of his mentors (President Abraham Lincoln and Mother Teresa were two of his favorites).

I never met John Wooden. E-mailed him once just to see what would happen, and received a generic response that was automated (He was in his mid 90's - I didn't take it personal). I don't like to do the "What if" thing, but I am certain of one thing: If I had never been graced with the teachings and philosophies of John Wooden, I would not be where I am today. My approach to sports (and life for that matter) completely changed after reading his books.

I have no tattoos yet, but if I was ever to get one, it would be the pyramid of success on my back, because I do my best to use this as a guidance to how to act both on and off the court.

Rest in peace John Wooden - I was blessed to stumble upon your books. The world was a better place for your contributions.

I will post links upon my return to Chicago of various Wooden clippings.

Greetings from Macon - Recap from 1st Tournament of Summer and some Words of Wisdom.

2010-06-03T18:34:00.003-04:00

Writing this one from Georgia - enjoying a nice weekend away from the normal grind. I've been working incredibly hard on the court, and as starting on the 12th I'll have 6 straight weekends with tournaments, I figured this would be a nice calm before the storm. Looking forward to moving here in two months to begin the coaching gig!

As usual I'm terrible with updates, but I'll do my best to catch everyone up. I've been practicing every day that the weather has allowed for the last 2 months, and I can definitely see the payoff. Opened up the pro season with the MPVA event last Saturday in Grand Haven, Michigan. Although it was hard to lock in someone to play with as USAV Indoor Nationals was going on during the same weekend, I was lucky and pulled in Brett Benfield 2 days before the tournament. He's a seasoned veteran that definitely brings a lot to the table, and after a basic practice session on Thursday, we set out to Michigan to do some damage.

It wouldn't be easy. As I had no points on this tour as I've never played an MPVA event, we were seeded 22nd out of 27 teams. That gave us a 1st-round match-up against 11 seed Eli Masud/Travis Wilson, another team from Chicago. They had won an EVP event 2 years ago, and Travis partnered with former D-III opponent John Kessenich to make the AVP Muskegeon Main Draw last year, taking a game from Olympians Sean Rosenthal and Jake Gibb. Our work was cut out for us, but I felt they may come out flat, and it's all about who's better that match.

Before getting into details about the tournament, let me give a shout-out to the MPVA - Rick and his staff were on top of everything being organized, and kept things moving better than any sand tournament I've played in previously. I have no issue continuing to travel 3 hours each way to these tournaments knowing the quality they're going to put out (hopefully I'm not jinxing them!).

Weather was gorgeous, and we arrived early to warm-up. Travis shows up about 15 minutes before first serve, and Eli runs up about 5 minutes beforehand. Brett and I both had a feeling they weren't going to be crisp, and sure enough we were able to sideout well and serve aggressively. Brett was very effective with his skyball, and I resorted to floats as I had NO timing jump-serving in the deeper sand (Nothing in Chicago compares to this stuff - I was always early as I wasn't hanging in the air is long, and the one jumper I made all day was a waffle). We won the first game 22-20, and the second was a barnburner.

I was confident we would pull the match out the whole time, but I KNEW it at 20-20, which actually was after a point for them. Brett overpassed a ball and I moved up to about 8 feet off the net to take the TKO ball from Travis. Luckily, it hit me right in my platform, but the force of the hit shot it off the court to the right. I yelled at Brett to go after it, and he crashed into the sponsor banners while popping it back onto the court. I put it in play, and although the other team put it away, you could just tell there was no way we were losing. After both team had set-points, we put it away at 26-24.

In the round of 16 we ran into 6-seed Brendan Enright and Jason Marenette (spelling on both those names are questionable). Enright is about 6-5 with LONG arms, and Marenette had a pretty nasty jump serve. They start out serving aggressively and keeping us on our heels, and we found ourselves in a 13-9 rut. Enright proceeds to argue Brett's skyball with the refs and the legality of it, at which point we realized they were nervous and started playing better. We pulled out the 22-20 win, and kept our momentum with a 21-17 set 2 victory to make it to the quarterfinals.

The quarterfinals put us against Van Rees/Sullivan, and we made their job easy. Sullivan was a BIG block that set the pace with like 4 blocks to start the game, and the only way I can describe Van Rees was like a lefty Sean Rosenthal - arguably a top 3 defender at the tournament, very explosive with his hits, and even looked a bit like Rosie! They thumped us in the first set, and although we started playing better on our side of the net the second set, we just could not seem to get points on the serve.

This sent us to the loser's bracket, where the name of the team escapes me, but they had just beaten Brian Kramer and his partner Vince to face us, where the winner would make it to 7th and lock in a check for (sit down for this one) SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS. They were nice guys and a decent team, but I was shocked that Kramer hadn't beaten them. That's the beast of an all-day tournament I suppose. We disposed of them in straight sets to secure a 7th place finish and a re-match with Masud/Wilson, who were waiting all day for a chance to get revenge.

Revenge was an understatement. My serve-receive started to fall apart, they dug everything we hit, and I ended the match with the ugliest set of the day, capped off by a sky ball that found no sky (I swung a little hard, barely made contact, and it went about 10 feet in the air).

So we finished 7th out of 27, which is my best finish of my brief career playing pro events. I'm happy that we did well, but am excited to move forward with more training and get a better finish!

(Sidenote: Talked with Eli Masud after, really nice guy with a good head on his shoulders. If you follow Midwest sand volleyball, expect him to stay on top for the next 5-10 years).

One last thing before I wrap this up: Was hanging out at the apartment while the person hosting me is working and caught Bobby Knight doing a commencement speech at Trine University (apparently you can find info on it at Trine.edu). PHENOMENAL speaker. Aside from his great style, he had some great stuff that I found myself writing down so I didn't forget it. I'll share:

*The way to win is eliminating ways to lose: As someone that's always worked on the weakest part of my game, I thought this was a great way of talking about how consistency is important.

*Satisfaction is the first step towards losing.

*When you kick a tiger in the ass, you better have a plan for when he turns around: Definitely stealing that one!

*The will to prepare to win is more important than the will to win: Probably the most valuable thing I got out of his speech - and I couldn't agree more.

*See instead of look, listen instead of hear.

That's about it for now. Hit the website and see if you can find it - he had some great stories of coaching Jordan in the 84 Olympics as well!

Enjoy the weekend everyone.

Outdoor Season!

2010-04-19T13:35:00.007-04:00

Well, as I listen to the NET LIVE and find myself reading Amy Reichel's new blog at http://spotlightathlete-amyreichel.blogspot.com/ , I find myself inspired to update my blog. The weather's getting nice, the nets are going up all over the place, which means it's SAND SEASON!

This will be a big season for me. Every year I've made big strides forward, and I hope to make a bigger jump this season than ever before. I went from learning how to play doubles, to playing A, moving up to Pro just one year later. Although I had a 9th-place finish and won at least one match every tournament, I hope to place top-10 every tournament this year.

I've partnered up with Patrick Tagny this summer. A former setter for the Cameroon National Team, he's not too experienced with sand, but you wouldn't know it stepping onto the court with him! This is the first spring I've been back in Chicago since I started playing sand, and I've taken full advantage of it, practicing with him outdoors when the weather allows and renting the courts at North Beach on Friday nights when it didn't.

Although I won't name names as nothing's been etched in stone, quite a few potential sponsors have been met with, and if all goes accordingly to plan we'll be traveling the EVP tour outside of Chicago this season. First tournament's May 15th in Panama City, with a 2nd one in Naples on the 29th.

Part of the excitement of those tournaments is that for the first Chicago tournament, we should have accumulated enough points to not run into the top-seed in the 2nd round like I experienced all too many times last season. Who knows, with a strong first two tournaments in FL we may be able to get a top seed! Time will tell.

The big mechanics project for me this summer is the sand hands. Although I've used them VERY sparingly (probably 2-3 times a tournament last year), I've worked very hard to get them consistent enough to work into my game, and so far it's paid off. When we practice indoor I can hand-set about 80% of the passes, and depending on the wind outdoors its about 50/50. Watching the top teams last year, I felt the big thing that separated them from the rest was their ability to put up consistent sets almost every play, so that's been what I've been looking to improve.

Anyways, taking a quick cat-nap before my 1-8am shift (living the dream), but I'll try to update in the next few days.

Perspectives on Playoffs and NECVA Predictions.

2010-04-08T17:43:00.003-04:00

I was hoping to get a few more, but given the responses I was able to get, I certainly can't complain. Volleyball in America has its flaws, but I will say this: it is second to no sport in the aspect of top-level players being approachable to the casual player. A big thanks to the Olympians that were willing to participate.

Playoffs are approaching for the men's collegiate season, and with the Division III NECVA tournament going on tomorrow, I'm sure a lot of players are anxious to get on the court! At the Division I level, the MPSF division has had an unbelievable amount of parity, to the point where no one would be surprised if a 7-8 seed ended up advancing to the second round.

March Madness just ended, and it's always nice to see what it brings out: Players rising to the occasion, others self-imploding. "Sure-things" like Kansas exiting in the 2nd round, while 5-seed Butler is a shot away from winning the National Championship. Teams can have a bulletproof regular season or barely squeak in, but once playoffs come around, anything's possible.

That being said, I was lucky enough to get in touch with a few players who have competed at the Olympic level for the Men's volleyball team. I was very pleased with their answers - although they all made it to the same level, they all had very different answers. Hope you enjoy!

(NOTE: I talked with Billings/Priddy last year when Newbury went from 16-1 to losing 10 of their next 11 and were heading to the playoffs in a bit of a slump - Hoff/Lee were spoken to this season specifically for this post).

Brook Billings

"Playoffs is a whole different story and now its time to play. This is where a player shows why they are the best. The regular season is to make it to the playoffs...but playoffs is time to play and step up."

Reid Priddy

"Well.... I am in that sort of situation right now... The important thing is to be in the moment,
all focus and concentration on the task at hand, the play right now. 16-1 is no small feat.
So in the big losing streak, which every team goes through at some point...
What can be learned. What did everyone take away from that?
Use it, learn from it and move forward. There is no real mysticism in sports. Momentum is a string of good plays often made by more than one player... So its not one GREAT play, but a series of good plays where many players contributed.... Thats it, that is momentum. No magic, just this play, and then move on to the next play, and so on. That is my two cents."

Tom Hoff

"I have the mindset where I try to do and prepare for a match in the exact same manner. I think that trying to become more mentally or physically focused during playoff time only shows that you could have "given" more. I am not saying I am perfect, but they way I mentally prepare to play a Olympic qualifying match or Olympic match or any other match, I try to replicate my same warm-up, my same thought process whether it is a match or practice.
I try to put as much pressure on myself to have quality contacts with almost every contact I make with the volleyball during a practice as in a match. Obviously not all contacts or executions of certain skills are always good but I have the mindset to be very critical of what I am doing and how it affects my team's outcome."

Me: Do you think that can be developed, or is it a mentality that some people are just born with?

"It can 100 percent be a learned trait. I try to instill it in all the guys in the gym every time we practice. Certain guys are more "wired" to be very critical of how they play the game and certain guys can just cruise through a match... I have seen great players do both, but for the most part, I strongly believe, demanding yourself to be great at all times, which includes 900am training or an Olympic match, is a terrific asset as a volleyball player trying to reach their highest potential."

David Lee

"It's the only time worth playing.. The season gets you into position to have the easiest road possible to win the championship. In my mind, it doesn't really matter where you finish as long as you're in. Once you've made it, it's anyone's game. There is a sports psych book out there called "Play Like your Life Depends on it"... I like that quote because the next few weeks during the Russian playoffs, each match I play will decide how my life on and off the court will play out in the future. If I do well? possibly re-sign and live the good life. If not, I could be searching for a job within a market where middles are not sought after and the pay would decrease a lot from my current situation. So I like to play as if each match could possibly be my last..."

Me: Since you've reached this level, do you feel as if your approach to getting ready for each match has changed, or do you feel that part of your success comes from following the same habits that brought you to this point?

"I have been searching for a long time for the right way to approach matches: Sometimes I'm overly aggressive, and sometimes I'll play with a calm confidence. I can tell you that I'm not certain which has brought me the best results, but lately I've just tried to enjoy the game and not get too caught up in the professional side of my current team. This year I've enjoyed my fan support and entertaining the crowd. There have been times here where coaches and other players can get into your head and I've learned that I'm at my best when I stay focused on what I have learned from the National Team and play my own game. I have a great feel for the flow of the game and an ability to read the opposing setter - Being able to read the game is really what has gotten me to this point in my career."

All have very different perspectives, but they all move towards the same goal. Personally, I was intrigued most by what Hoff said - playing with the same precision and intensity every moment you have on the court, so that when you get to the playoffs you're just doing the same thing you've always done. However, that's easier said that done, and as a young player like David Lee says, a lot is riding on one's performance, so I can see how it can be difficult to not put additional pressure on one's self when entering the playoffs.

Unfortunately, I've been away from the east coast, so other than heresay from others, I can't give calculated predictions on the NECVA tournament this weekend. That being said, I'll pick the winners as I see them anyways!

1st round:

Rivier > NJCU
Baruch > Naz
Vassar > D'Youville
PBU > Hunter
Endicott > Emmanuel
MIT * Newbury (Cmon Nighthawks!)
Ramapo > Stevens
New Paltz > Medaille

2nd round:

Rivier > NP
Baruch > Ramapo
Vassar > *
PBU > Endicott

Semis:

Rivier > PBU
Vassar > Baruch

Finals:

Rivier > Vassar

Thoughts from a distance: The top 4 teams are in a tier above the rest. Stevens/Newbury/Emmanuel are the strongest 10-11-12 seeds the tournament's ever had, and all three have the physical ability to make a run if they catch fire - putting it together for 3 days will be the key. PBU's teamwork is probably the best of all the teams but lack the depth of other teams. Vassar's coaches continue to have them overachieving after a huge senior class graduating last year - in my opinion they should be happier with their season than any other team. Baruch has the most talent, but I question their poise - when they hit a slump/adversity, will they push through or let tempers flare? Rivier has the most experience as well as depth, and I think Coach Kolek will make sure they don't make the same mistakes they made last year.

Good luck to all!

Windy City Invite Recap

2010-03-05T14:51:00.002-05:00

Well, another tournament with the Shockers came and went, this one being arguably the largest indoor USAV tournament of the year Chicago hosts, the Windy City Invite. The Open/AA/A division had 15 teams, including a few out-of-towners such as Slamwich from Nebraska and Omega Force from Minnesota. With Lights Out, an Open level team, plus 6 of the top 15 from AA Nationals last year in attendance, anything could happen.

From the get-go, I felt better about this tournament than the first time around. My thumb had an extra week to heal, and I had taped it which really helped stabilize it. Only one block really stands out in regards to feeling it, but I shook it off and felt it didn't affect my serve receive. Speaking of serve receive, Kyle Due was ready to make his debut at libero. We snagged Chris Wright from Momentum to play opp, and I'll say right off the bat I'm bummed we can't steal him full-time. Lefty that skies, and an overall nice guy. Bob Scott wasn't there to play middle, but Kyle Masterson, a Penn State Alum, filled in quite nicely and I hope it isn't a one-time thing having him on the squad.

Our Pool consisted of Summit (2-time AA National Champs, top 5 Open team when they participated at that level), Omega Force (Minnesota team that finished 9th last year in AA for Nationals, and for the midwest sand junkies, the Bomgren brothers are on that team), Coast North (finished 6th for A last year at Nationals) and Fist It (1st year squad - didn't recognize the players but most had Lakeland/OskKosh apparel).

We started against Omega Force, and just didn't get the job done. We had a couple game points on them and didn't capitalize - probably not my best game of the day. Set 2 Tony Jachera subbed in for me and we took care of business, winning something like 21-13. As usual, Kwon distributed the ball nicely and the hitters took care of things. Having Due run the show for serve receive brought some communication we could have benefitted from last tournament.

The next game was against Summit, which in my opinion is Chicago's best team of the last decade. Jeff Sandberg ran hands, with Keith Schunzel (normally TPC's setter but a hell of a lefty outside as well) outside, Fasshauer/Desirion in the middle, and a 6-7ish opposite that supposively played at Long Beach. Their libero, Krystian Krzyzak, former standout at Loyola, is a pain in the ass to play against, simple as that.

All that being said, we went with the same lineup we finished the last match with and came out strong. I wouldn't say we were doing anything special, just controlling the ball and siding out well. On the other side of the net, Chuck (opp formerly of Marquette?) had a slow start, and was pulled within the first 10 points. Their overall flow wasn't what where it normally is for them, and we pulled out a 23-21 win. I hopped in the second set, and serve receive went well. picked up a couple digs, kept the energy up, and tooled the block to end a 22-20 victory, putting us at 3-1 and dropping Summit to 1-3 after they split with Coast North.

Flying high after the sweep, we cruised through our next 2 matches convincingly. Coast North had some guns with Andy Kownacki and Kevin Allison on the outside, but the block did a good job getting touches, we kept the ball in play, and continued to side out well. Fist It was already eliminated and didn't seem to bring much fire to our last match with them, and we went into playoffs with a 7-1 record and the top seed.

We were to play the winners of Slamwich (team from Nebraska) and the team I call Lewis Alum (I believe they're Ballsagna but I'm not sure), which features Drew Pickering, Billy Sahagian, Johnny Kessenich (fellow D-III'r/Vassar alum) running hands, as well as local beach studs Eli Masud/Tom Carioscio/Dan Buehring. Ballsagna had way more power at the net, but Slamwich dug EVERYTHING in sight, and their OH1 was terminating from all over the court. They were on fire the second half of this tournament, and had actually swept Lights Out in pool play to send them packing for the day.

So we play Slamwich in the semis, and by far played our best match. Bergles/Jachera on the outside, Due libero, Kwon running hands, Kyle M/Ollie Tan in the middle and Chris Wright banging at opp. Slamwich gets out to a 4-2 lead in set 1 and both teams begin to sideout at will. Literally, I think there was 30-40 straight sideouts before Slamwich blinked and we finally were able to re-take the lead. We closed the door with a 27-25 victory, and never looked back, winning the 2nd set somewhat convincingly to advance to the finals, which guaranteed us $500 for the day!

On the other side of the bracket, Summit had started to hit their stride. I believe they had 3 set points against them in pool play which would have eliminated them from playoffs, but they fought back, won those sets, won the play-in against Coast, then crushed Aim to Kill and McLovin to reach the finals.

The second time around we weren't so hot - coming out of the gate with shaky passing and numerous hitting errors. Although we started to pick it back up the second half of the game, Summit sided out well and they took the first set. I came in the second set, and although I didn't play terribly, I wasn't exactly a game-changer, and Summit completed the sweep to win the tournament.

Although I am able to hang at this level, it is apparent to me that if I want to improve, it's going to have to be in regards to my physical ability. Although my passing is steady and I don't hit terribly, the defense picks me up pretty easily and the block is extremely tough for me to tool. There are guys at the levels I've played before that can jump like the AA players, but it's how much they reach over on the block - in the past when the blockers got touches, I was at least getting soft blocked and our coverage was able to attempt to pick it back up. I'm not getting those opportunities as often anymore.

That being said, our team is ranked 2nd in the region for AA, and I'm excited to continue to progress as the season goes on. Our next tournament is the 14th at Prairie Stone, so if you're local, come watch the best ball Chicago has to offer!

How to fix the Men's Division III All-American Voting

2010-02-26T12:42:00.002-05:00

What? A Division III post? I know, with February winding down it's about time!

Although I don't participate as much anymore, I still view volleytalk's forum daily to get the latest gossip/rumors on the season. Recently, a thread started talking about the potential 2010 D-III All-Americans. And I still haven't quite figured out how to respond, because some of the posts have been brain-numbing. There are so many different perspectives on who should get it and who shouldn't that you aren't always going to please everyone.

One of the gripes I always heard in numerous D-III circles about is Endicott always getting All-Americans, largely skewed by the fact that coach Tim Byram is on the committee. Before all the trolls come about and tell me how the process REALLY works and how it's unfair to say that, let me finish: I am not faulting Byram for simply doing what he can to promote his players in a positive manner. He's one of seven coaches on that board. So if Dan Coleman (A good libero but played for a team that never made it past the 2nd round of NECVA's) can be a three-time All-American, the system if flawed. Statistics are important, but it needs to go much deeper than that, as they can be skewed.

No worries though, because I have a fix. I present to you "Volleyballer4life's rules to a successful All-American selection process"!

THE "BIG THREE" RULE.

Juniata, UC-Santa Cruz, and Springfield automatically each get three All-Americans, with the 1 seed heading into Molten's getting a 4th. After each season, the teams are reviewed and the committee can veto this rule for the upcoming season with 5 votes against it.

If you look at the previous years, this is not that much of a stretch. Last year, these 3 teams combined for 6 of the 20 spots. Not a bad representation. However, who here watched the replay of the National Championship? Did anyone else see Anthony Damiano from Juniata? Are you going to tell me that he really pales in comparison to Leserman/Coleman? This was the biggest snub last season. All three of these teams year in and year out have players that would start at any other Division III school they were at and make an immediate impact. I don't like the lack of parity, but I can't deny it. So until these juggernauts show any signs of slowing down, they get half of the accolades.

THE NECVA RULES

NECVA champion gets a minimum of two players. Simple enough.

Down to 8 spots or less! Here's where it gets fun.

NECVA teams must make it to the second round of the tournament to have players considered.

Let's look at the teams that would have been eliminated from last year's voting from this:

Hunter, Medaille, SUNY NP, Elms, Newbury, Emmanuel, Eastern Mennonite, MIT.

If you look at the All-Americans from last year, this rule techincally worked out anyways. The year before, there would be four violations: Witofsky/Coleman from Endicott, Pamidimukkala from MIT, and Brubaker from PBU.

I'm not saying that these players aren't all very strong - nor am I saying there weren't players from last year that weren't deserving of the thought at least - Elms and Newbury had some standout players. However, when I think of All-Americans, we can review box scores all we want, but there are intangibles to be considered.

Take Newbury's loss to Philly Bible last year. We were the higher seed, probably were deeper talent-wise, and fell apart. People were yelling at each other on the court, no one was able to take the game over, and we lost in four, although it could have easily have been a sweep. If you can't will your team to win in the first round of a 16-team tournament that doesn't include the big 3, then all-conference is about as high as you should get. Poise is something that you can't necessarily chart on paper, but it should be one of the highest priorities when choosing someone as an AA.

Sometimes, the fact that you will your team to the playoffs is even a feat though. Hence:

THE BRUBAKER CLAUSE

With the unanimous vote by the AVCA committee, ONE player from a team that does not meet the prior rules may be voted as an All-American.

There are some players that thrive on mid-level teams where you aren't sure if they'd have the same success on a top team. Brubaker is an example of a guy that would be successful in just about any program. That being said, the committee can vote someone in that meets these standards.

And finally, my favorite rule:

THE "LETS HELP EVERYONE STOP CRYING ABOUT SNUBS" ALL-AMERICAN HONNORABLE MENTION AWARD.

Although a third-team would be unnecessary, certainly it'd be nice to know who just misses the cut. There are always 5-10 guys that a lot of people bring up that should have been on the list, and most of them really are only missing one or two pieces to the puzzle. Therefore, let the committee pick 10 players that just fell short. No criteria regarding their team. This gives credit to players that had a great season individually, and perhaps it helps push them to get to the next level the following year. It also gives a little credit to their schools, and perhaps that'll help bring in a recruit that wants to help build a program from being middle-tier into a contender.

These rules really only make the committee pick 5-6 players, as well as the Honorable Mention team. Although I'd like to say Division III has enough parity to say this wouldn't work... it doesn't. Juniata and Springfield are the only two teams that have won D-III titles that haven't moved up or dropped their program. The gap is getting closer, but still has a long way to go.

Perhaps Baruch will alter that this year. Time will tell.

2/20 Tourney Recap and Looking Forward

2010-02-25T11:00:00.002-05:00

Well, my first tournament with Northside Shockers came and went and it certainly had its ups and downs. We lost a nailbiter to McLuvin 15-13 in the third for the finals, which was disappointing but I don't plan on dwelling on it. The tournament itself was incredibly balanced - 2 teams went 5-3, one went 4-4, and the last 2 went 3-5. Talk about parity! Was fun to play in.

The ups were I couldn't be happier with my team. Great players, great attitudes, and very patient with me (we'll get to that later). We played iron man (6 guys, no libero) - and I was pretty impressed with our 6'7-6'8 middles playing backrow! We certainly had our spurts where teams made runs on us, but for our first tournament of the year there's a lot to be positive about.

As for me personally, it was a tournament of ups and downs. The first match I played outside and felt pretty comfortable - a few unforced hitting errors that had me shaking my head afterwards, but overall a decent start. Afterwards, they switched me and the opposite, and I got off to a great start by having the opponent's outside (Rob Housing I believe, pretty good player out of NIU) destroy my left thumb on a block. I played through it, but my serve receive never fully recovered from it, as I was struggling to set a standard ball even while peppering.

Aside from that, my hitting just wasn't as crisp on the rightside. Kwon is the best setter I've stepped on a court with, I just need to work on taking a sharper approach as I'm sittin on the pin, while most the sets were more like back 2's. It's been awhile since I've played in a fast-tempo system, so I'm just gettin rid of the cobwebs and working on my approach. Still, I'm getting a lot of solo blocks, I should be terminating those balls. In the finals I started to connect better, and I think I'll do fine with time. However, my blocking needs to be a little stronger, which I'm sure will come with repetition.

Despite what I felt wasn't my best first impression with the team, everyone was cool and Kwon made sure to tell me not to be so hard on myself. He's a great player/coach, and I look forward to improving under his wing! It reminds me of the first season I played USAV with Bada Bing, and although I didn't start every match, I learned a lot and used that with a good off-season to move up to a go-to hitter for them the following season. Hope I can do the same for this squad!

Went to the doctor about my thumb, he said it was a pretty good sprain. Thought there might be a slight tear to the ligament/muscle, but after I did his rehab/icing for a few days, he felt like that most likely wasn't the case. The swelling's already down quite a bit, but the pain's still pretty strong. I'm testing it out at a setter's clinic I run on Thursdays tonight, and with a little tape I should have no problem this weekend.

Looking forward to this weekend - Windy City Invitational in Vernon Hills. We have an incredibly tough pool, running into Summit and Lights Out, two of the stronger Chicagoland teams. I'm very excited to play against them, Summit is a 2-time AA USAV National Champion, with a few 5th's in the Open Division. Lights Out played in Open last year as well. This tournament we're bringing 8, including a libero (my boy Kyle Due who I've always wanted to play alongside) and a lefty opposite, which hopefully opens me up for a little more outside work. Regardless, I'll play whatever position the team needs, and am fired up to have a strong second tournament with the team!

A fresh start...

2010-02-19T18:17:00.003-05:00

Well, as usual this blog comes months after my last post, but luckily I have actual things in the now to talk about, rather than simply talking about what could be!

Before we get to me, I'd just like to say that it's nice to see Newbury starting to hit its stride. After starting the season 0-3, they have won 10 of their last 11 and from the former teammates I've talked to, everyone seems to be on the same page. Credit most of that to Assistant Coach Mike Houlihan. Sounds like he came in and decided to hold players accountable for their actions, and the players have responded. Rob Mullowney was a good volleyball mind, and I'm glad to see him doing well at Wentworth, but from the few talks I had with Houlihan we had a very similar philosophy about the game, and I wish I would have had a year to play for him! Hope they can continue with their recent success!

For me as a worker - it has not been pretty in regards to finding a full-time job, but I've slowly started to find small jobs here and there - I'll do some marketing for a company about 10 hours a week, I'm running a few clinics, I am slated to start reffing at a few local leagues, and a few other potential jobs are in the mix. It's nice to finally see some progress on all the resumes that have been sent out!

The crucial part about the jobs is that it'll allow me to move closer to paying off my final bill at Newbury, which is the final piece to the puzzle in regards to me applying for Grad School. I will not name the one that I will end up at, but I have verbally committed (as well as gotten a verbal commitment from them) to be their Graduate Assistant Coach.

I visited at the end of January and could not have been happier. The coaches were great, the players said all the right things and seem self-motivated, and the facilities were gorgeous. I walked into their arena and couldn't hide my smile, as it's a long way from playing at a school that didn't even have a gym! Everyone seemed extremely polite that I met, and I think it's an opportunity of a lifetime for someone in my position.

I would serve as a First Assistant as they don't have a paid coach in place, which may intimidate others, but I welcome the role. I was lucky in my first assistant jobs that my coaches gave me more than the typical workload, and although I have plenty to learn, the coach and I share similar philosophies, and I have no doubt that she'll help me along the way when I need it. I think I can learn a lot, but also bring my experience to the table to leave the program better than it was when I first arrived. I look forward to the Challenge.

In the meantime, I've finally broken out of my off-season, and find myself back at the level I was before I took my first break in quite some time! I hopped on with Northside Shockers, one of the top AA USAV teams in the Chicagoland area. I have played with/against most of these guys in the last few years, and look forward to being a part of their squad.

I remember the first time I saw them play, when AA was having a tournament at the Sky High facility in Crystal Lake. BB had one on a separate court, but I was able to catch their games when we had breaks. It's crazy to step on the court with guys that 5 years ago you looked up to almost as role models in regards to your play. Tony Jachera was about my height, but had an absolute CANNON of an arm, and I remember watching in awe as he made smart play after smart play, helped out by great setting by Kevin Kwon as his middle Ollie Tan was drawing blocks left and right. Now? I go to work with them in our first tournament of the 2010 season tomorrow.

Although the first couple weeks back were rough in regards to conditioning, I upped the amount I was playing, and this week I played 5 days straight with virtually no fatigue. Wednesday went to a strong open gym and felt about as good as it gets. Pep on the swing, smooth passing, anticipating the hitter and filling the lanes appropriately. Gonna stay up to listen to the UCLA/CSUN match online, then get some rest for an early rise tomorrow. Co-ed games have been fun, but I'm excited to let loose some of the "killer instinct" mentality that you just can't replicate in rec leagues/open gyms.

One final update: Made a highlight video from my last season playing - follow the link to take a look. I'll let others critique the actual footage, but as for choreography, I felt it was much stronger than my other videos, if nothing else because youtube didn't compress the quality as it did previous times! Hope you enjoy!

I will try to post in the next few days with a recap of my Chicago AA debut!

Jumpstarting the Blog!

2009-12-12T17:51:00.003-05:00

I apologize for the delay in updates. It has been an whirlwind of a semester, wrapping up my academic career and getting a taste of what the real world (which is extremely dark and scary) has to offer. I suppose the easiest way to do this is to do an interview... with myself! Feel free to shoot me any additional questions, and I will answer them in future blogs. I am going to do my best to start posting more frequently now that things are stabilizing.

Where have you been???

Well, the last 3 months I've been wrapping up my bachelor's degree in Sports Management, and although the workload has not been too hectic, a few personal issues have ended up taking up A LOT of my time. On top of that, planning for life after graduation has certainly taken up a lot of time as well.

Have you been playing volleyball?

Yes and no. I've played once to twice a week. I helped out the women's volleyball team here at the school once a week, and played in a Wednesday night league. I did a few adult tournaments as well, and when the weather was warmer I'd play grass with the guys here. I didn't play as much as I'd like to, but I suppose I could have used a bit of a break.

So what's the plan after graduation - are you Europe-bound?

Sadly, with the economy being as it is I will not be attempting to go overseas right away. My student loans simply amount to too much, and although the majority of people that go overseas get paid, stories like all-time digs leader Tony Ker getting screwed over is enough to keep me from going until I at least take care of all my private loans. Regardless of whether or not I get paid, the loan companies will still expect to collect, and as I have people who graciously co-signed my loans I owe it to them to take the safe route and make sure I'm able to re-pay my debt.

That being said, there are two routes: Graduate school and work. I consider myself very well networked in the Chicago area, but find that most job opportunities through these measures have only pulled up jobs that I probably could have gotten without the degree - at wages that will not cover all the bills, or at best make the minimum payments for my loans. One or two interviews this Thanksgiving break may prove to be different, but nothing's etched in stone. With any luck, I'll get a call or two next week, and begin work immediately once arriving home.

Although I hadn't thought too much about it previously, I decided to e-mail every Division I women's volleyball coach that had a graduate assistant on their staff, simply asking for information on applying for the position. I was pleased to hear back from four coaches in the span of 48 hours, which is a nice change of pace from getting very little feedback while looking for jobs. Although the locations aren't exactly ideal ( I would like to be closer to home to be with family, specifically the 5-year old brother ), I really liked what a few of the coaches had to say, and feel that unless a really good job opportunity comes up, I will be enrolling in graduate school in the fall, working towards my MBA and hopefully helping a Division I program to become better than it was when I first got there!

Does this mean that you're giving up on playing overseas?

I have come to terms that I will be going overseas for the experience and not the pay. If I can stay in shape, continue to work hard, work my debt down and get a small nest-egg to cover my loan payments for x amount of months that I could play overseas, I would love to go over there and break even once in the next year or two. In the meantime, I will play A/AA USAV indoor ball, and continue to work towards playing 'professionally' (although if you read Hans Stolfus' blog, you realize there are only about 8-10 males that actually make a living playing sand full-time).

So what should we expect from this blog now that your collegiate career is over?

There are plenty of things I want to cover:

- Interviews with professional players

- In-season updates from various D-III players

- Personal updates

- Any news in the volleyball community and my thoughts on them

I still take requests. Despite heading back to Chicago, I do want to keep tabs on the Newbury program, and intend to keep in touch with the players to get the latest on what's going on. So if you have any suggestions, let me know and I'll see what I can do!

It's been a long break, but looking forward to writing on a regular basis again!

One Year Later.

2009-08-03T12:09:00.002-04:00

Tough day today.

There are some memories that just linger in your head like it was yesterday, regardless of how long ago they actually occurred. One year ago today (from tomorrow actually), I was sitting in a co-workers kitchen doing some cold calls when I got a call from the former SID of our college. Her voice was trembling, and I could tell something was wrong. "They can't find Dave" she said, and as we got farther into the conversation I began to see the writing on the wall. I left work, went home, and immediately started hitting the internet looking for updates, calling teammates, and trying to obtain more information. I was like a zombie at that computer at times, simply finding the most recent story to be published, and clicking refresh every minute.

Towards the end of the day, I began to realize I had to simply let time take its toll as the search party scoured the river, well above its normal level due to 2 weeks worth of rain, looking for any sign that perhaps he climbed out and was wandering around the area. Unfortunately, the worst-case scenario unfolded, and the next day it was confirmed that we lost him.

Coach Dave Hildebrandt changed my life in ways I probably didn't appreciate until it was too late to tell him. When he first got in contact with me, I was working while going to community college, settling for B's, not really heading in any specific direction, pretty much putting my life on cruise control and doing what was needed to get by. He said he was going to be in town to visit friends, and we ended up meeting and discussing the possibility of me transferring to Newbury to play for his team. A few months later I visited and knew that it was the place for me.

Fast forward a bit, and during my two years at Newbury with him I really developed both on and off the court. He constantly pushed his players to excel in the classroom, which was evident with the team GPA earning our team All-Academic awards. A lot of people would critique him for his lack of knowledge of the game, and I would be lying if I wasn't in that group at times. However, Dave more than made up for that with his ability to constantly challenge his players to continue raising the bar, never settling for where they were at.

I won't name the player, and for some readers I probably won't have to. A teammate of mine played for him one year, and was not a big fan of him to say the least. Dave was probably harder on him than the rest of us, sometimes to the point where the teammate felt it was unfair. However, his progression as the season went on couldn't be denied, and that was a key part in our run to the conference championship match, finishing a school-best 6th in the Nation that season. When the coaching switch happened last season, the same discipline that brought us success previously simply wasn't there (a testament to Dave moreso than a knock to the current regime), and it showed with our mid-season collapse.

When word spread that Dave applied for the Elms position, most of us were enraged. We just finished our best season ever, most of the core was returning, and he was going to leave us? There was even a meeting for the returning players discussing going to the A.D to say if he didn't get the job at Elms, we wouldn't want to play for him due to a lack of trust.

I cannot think of a time I was being more selfish.

It is no secret that Newbury does not pay well compared to other schools. The gym is rented from off-campus. Dave had to work admissions in order to obtain full-time status. That being said. Elms offered him a full-time position strictly coaching, with 2 gyms to practice in. How could he not take that job? Any of us would have done the same thing in his situation.

I stopped talking to Dave for awhile once he accepted the Elms position. However, I was in town for business later that summer, and stopped into the office to chat with him a bit, as I heard it was coincidentally his last day at Newbury. He told me about his upcoming camping trip, we talked some sports, and had a really nice conversation for an hour. At one point, he said he wished I would have told him I was coming, he had about 14 Newbury warmups that he could have gave me. I jokingly said he'd need to keep them, as he'd probably want to wear them and look at himself in the mirror when he was at home, missing being around us.

Little did I know it was going to be the other way around. One week later, he was gone.

I look back with fond memories of my time playing for him. So many different stories come to mind:

* Freshman year, Sacred Heart, I play atrociously the first set. We're walking back onto the court and I ask him if there's anything I can do differently. "You better stop playing like shit" what his response. I wasn't too pleased at the time, and although we lost in a 5-set heartbreaker, I took his advice.

* Playing at Lasell. I'm cheating out of base for defense because their middles are tipping into the seams, and I pick up 3 digs quickly. The 4th one they adjust and hit into my normal position. Dave gets off the bench and begins SCREAMING at me about it. Rather than nod my head and take it, I go over to explain why I'm doing it, and it gets ugly. I hop back on the court and proceed to play out of my mind. Dave tries to cheer me on, but I want nothing to do with him at the time.

The teammates loved this. I was given the tag of "Golden Boy" as most of them felt I could do no wrong with Dave. The irony in that is Dave and I were VERY different in our philosophies, and I would spend hours in his office doing work-study, arguing with him back and forth about volleyball, our team, and other teams. Dave and I didn't get in each other's faces at practice because we were able to agree to disagree, and therefore didn't bring any of those debates into practice. Teammates never saw these arguments. I think they got a kick out of seeing us go at it for a change.

One year later, Dave and I still would argue about that game. He's gone, but I guarantee you neither of us have changed our stances. I'd still cheat in the seam if we replayed that match, and he'd still give me hell for it.

I could go on and on. This post is getting long though, so I'll get to my last and favorite memory of Dave. We were in the second round of the NECVA tournament in 2008, 5th set against former #1 in the nation Nazareth. Down 13-10, we mount a comeback off some great serves by Jay Neveu, capped by opposite Josh Aberly HOUSING 2-time All-American Tom Maving to seal the match.

I have video of this, and the angle is perfect: You can see everyone's reaction. The teammates and I would watch it, laugh at someone's reaction, rewind and find someone else to watch. Everyone goes berserk. Coach Dave jumps off the bench, starts running towards us, and drops all his papers from his clipboard/binder. He proceeds to scrape them all up, then run back to Coach Bob with them pumping his fist.

Today, we see coaches too often focused on their self-image, reacting how they want people to see them rather than how they really feel. There was a great article on ESPN about this, and I completely agree that it takes away from the integrity of the game. Dave had many qualities, but his best was that he was the most genuine, passionate coach you'll ever meet. That moment where he ran onto the court and spilled his papers was a perfect example: He knew how coaches are supposed to act, but his excitement simply was too much to hold it in. There were coaches that were more experienced, more talented, and more successful, but Dave squeezed out every bit of his potential, building the worst team in the nation (losing 56 games in a row at one point) into a nationally-ranked contender.

He also used his passion to continually try to expand Division III Men's Volleyball, and although he may not be the main factor, he certainly did everything he could to help us get a National Championship, which will be effective in 2011.

I respected Dave as a coach and friend well before his death, but I didn't get the full picture of what he did for me until I went back to Newbury and he wasn't there. His door was ALWAYS open, and although I took advantage of it, I never realized how lucky I was to have those opportunities.

Rest in peace. Your impact on my life is not forgotten.

A Rough Day, With a Rougher Day to Come...

2009-07-29T00:05:00.003-04:00

The irony about me is with one leg longer than the other, standing in a place for an extended period of time can really mess with my body. I played 24 games this weekend and felt pretty good afterwards: The last two days, work has required me to stand looking down at small objects for 8 hours each day, and I feel like I've been hit by a train!

This did not bode well for me in my co-ed doubles league, as I played TERRIBLE as we dropped a set, which would be our third loss on the season. I may sound like a snob complaining about "dropping" to 25-3, but when you're tied at 12 and proceed to have four hitting errors in a row, it's disappointing knowing that playing even average for yourself most likely would have secured the win. I suppose I shouldn't complain going 5-1 on the day. Next week is the last one for the regular season, and going 3-1 will secure 1st, although being greedy I want/expect the 4-0. I am lucky to be able to click with the significant other on the court as well as we do off of it!

That being said, August 3rd is beginning to creep up on me, and I can't help but feel depressed knowing we're so close to the one-year anniversary of Coach Dave's passing. I will be helping Bob Vilsoet at the opening practice for the Harper Women's Volleyball team, and although I hope that it'll be a distraction from the pain I'll feel, I'm sure doing some coaching myself will only remind me more of him. Time will tell I suppose.

Anyways, I should shower and head to bed, just felt like posting as I'm trying to get back on track updating this thing. I will try to write something tomorrow as well.

A Typically-Overdue Update - The Ups and Downs.

2009-07-27T23:31:00.002-04:00

As usual, I find myself flying all over the place this summer and by the time I get to sit down at the computer and have the ability to blog, I find myself wanting to check my mail and go to bed.

However, tonight I find myself still flying high after a wonderful weekend of volleyball and spending time with friends. The 20th annual Spike for Kids tournament was Saturday and Sunday, and this was the 5th year I had participated.

I look back on the first year I played it with my friends Kevin and Juan. We got on the court, looked at the other team, and started muttering to ourselves how easy it was going to be. Funny thing was, they had won it before (other than the Luau, this is the probably the most competitive grass 3's tournament of the year for IL), and proceeded to annihilate us. We made it out of pool play, but was bounced out of the playoffs the first round. The next year I didn't make it out of pool play, the only time I've been sent packing before playoffs since I started playing grass touranments.

Fast forward to this weekend, and things have changed a bit. Last year we made it to the semis, but ran out of steam and ended up settling for 3rd. Josh and I picked up a new setter who played on the Cameroon National Team, and he did not disappoint. We faced the defending champions in the semi-finals, and games were to 21. Two of their players were on the team that beat us in the USAV BB National Championship in May, as well as the team that beat Josh's team in the Waupaca Semis, so redemption was necessary. One of the closest matches I've ever played, we won in straight sets, 24-22 28-26.

We advance to the finals, where we face a team we split with in pool play. They had a hammer of an outside, as well as a strong setter and big opposite, so it was going to be a tough one. They came out very strong, taking the first set 21-14. We re-grouped for the second and edged out a 21-19 victory to force it to a 3rd game.

Although my defense felt great all tournament, my hitting was definitely our weak point, as I hadn't played much rightside this summer and was struggling to get my timing down. Luckily, Set 3 starts off well, as I put down 2 straight kills down the line, then make a diving left-handed pop-up to Josh who set Patrick on the rightside for a 3-0 lead. We never looked back, and after two HUGE digs in a row by Josh to give us match point, we took a 15-11 victory to win the tournament.

This was by far the biggest victory of my career. It seems like just yesterday I was at the Luau (the actual year was 2005) and watching the Open Division in complete awe. My friend Orest, a veteran of the local tournaments, was sitting beside me as I basically admitted that these guys killed any trace of an ego I had. He said that he remembered how they played at my age and that I just needed to be patient.

Sure enough, 4 years later and the work seems to be paying off.

The next day, Juan and I teamed up with the girlfriends for the co-ed 4's, really just playing for fun and not really having expectations. Although we rotated and had everyone hit, our defense was very strong, and we ended up winning the 2nd highest division, despite the fact that most teams didn't rotate and had the guys blasting away everytime. So I ended up 2-for-2 on the weekend, thanks to some great play by some incredible teammates!

Aside from that, I've played a few pro sand tournaments, taking home a 9th and a 17th. Not the best finishes, but I'm winning matches at each tournament, so it's nice to know I can at least hang in there with the big guns. On top of that, it's been another eye-opening season as to what I need to work on the most, and although I'm having a blast and don't want the sand season to end, I can't WAIT to hit the weight room and start the P90X workout this fall.

With one month to go before heading back to school, I look forward to cramming in as much volleyball as possible before REALLY taking an off-season and staying of the court for a few months. It's literally been about 5 years since I've stayed away from any sort of competition, and although at Newbury I used to play a lot of grass/do the fall season with the teammates, I plan on really disciplining myself short-term so that I can reap the benefits next summer. I'm in talks with a few potential sponsors, and if all goes well, I should be traveling around the country in 2010 competing in AVP/EVP events. A lot can happen before that though, so for now I'll take it one step at a time and enjoy the last few weekends in Chicago.

More to come at another time.

Italy vs. USA Recap

2009-07-10T23:34:00.003-04:00

Brief observations, as my better half is waiting patiently for me. Italy came back from losing the first set 25-20 to winning the next 3 20-25, 21-25, 24-26.

observations:

* 2nd OH is definitely a liability. Salmon wasn't necessarily a go-to guy, but you never felt like he was killing your team the way I felt watching Jablonsky struggle tonight against Italy. Couldn't block, most kills were tools that could have gone either way, backrow was par at best. Touzinsky was put back in the game late in the 3rd, but the momentum had shifted by that point. I really hope that Anderson/Rooney stay healthy/motivated, because I just don't feel comfortable with anyone else from the newer generation of National Team pipeliners.

* What I'm surprised no one touched on is the 2nd middle. Kudos to the setter that came in for Italy late in the 1st set (#5) for running a FAST offense. Middles were unstoppable, and were getting solos all day for the pin hitters. Savani (#11) was a monster for Italy, and the lefty opp (#7) was a workhorse as well, going over triple blocks a time or two. The pace of the sets were near unstoppable, and by the 4th set the U.S had no answer. Hein/Smith both show a lot of potential, and Hein seems to already be there on the offensive end. However, until they can close a block on the regular basis, it won't matter how much height we have on the sides.

* Stanley looks TIRED. I feel like Priddy mentioned previously that he was worried about Clay not taking a break, and my thoughts are the same. His serves were all over the place, he was hitting into blocks, and just never seemed to hit his stride. Patak is one of the brightest prospects we have, why not give him more time? Billings also has a ton of experience from the 04 games.

* Rooney has grown A LOT as a player since last year. Very impressed with his confidence compared to last year when they played Bulgaria. His bic's were unstoppable, and I look forward to watching him continue to progress. However...One of the things that stuck out about last year's team (perhaps even moreso now after watching tonight's match) was the mental toughness and poise they showed. No matter how bad of a run they were on, they came to the middle. Every player. Every time. This year? Rooney shows some fire when things go well (Had a FANTASTIC pancake, sprung up, and fired a cross-court bomb to the corner), but when things went wrong, he was always going away from the team, obviously pissed off, even kicking the side panel once in frustration. I understand the age, and I realize he'll get better with time, but if he wants to be a go-to player NOW, then he's gotta grow up a bit faster, because it seemed like the overall camaraderie wasn't there.

* Crucial play that I'd like others' opinion on: 21-23, 3rd set, Patak bombs a shot to my corner (I was in reserved seating) that I'm pretty sure went in. Line judge called it in, but up ref over-ruled it. No replay on the jumbotron. Am I crazy or was that an ace? HUGE momentum shift from being down only 1 coming off an ace compared to missing a serve giving the other team set point.

* Hansen seemed to set well, although his block is a liability. I realize people on the board were never fans of Ball's blocking, but Hansen looked lost on there for some stretches (He did have some great solos from time to time). I liked his leadership, I think if he continues to develop his game he could definitely become something special. Suxho came in late in game 4, had a great serving run to get them back in the game, but I felt his sets had no tempo (granted, it's hard to warm up in that type of scenario).

* Lee looked great. It's nice to know we have one staple in the middle. If Hein continues to work on his defense we could have a nice 1-2 combo, with Holt ready to jump in as well.

* Anyone have any insight to Anderson's absense from the roster? I hadn't checked their final roster and didn't know until watching warm-ups he wasn't there, what a huge disappointment. Hopefully it's for strategic purposes only.

* Italy's offense/serve receive looked fantastic. #11 (Savani) was a monster, the lefty opp was consistent, and 15 and 17 were great in the middle (15's back 1 was killer). The times USA were doing well always seemed to be in sync with getting them out of sync regarding serve receive. If they want to get the split, we'll need to take their passing out of system so they can't continue to create solo blocks.

That's it for now. Looking forward to match 2!

Italy vs. USA Tonight!

2009-07-10T18:16:00.003-04:00

We are less than two hours away from the first serve of Italy vs. USA tonight! Tonight I'll be in the reserved seating, then tomorrow back in general admission. The Sears Centre is a pretty nice facility and viewing will be good from virtually every seat.

I am a bit upset with how I dropped the ball on obtaining a press pass for the event as I could have with some work, but unfortunately my schedule has been unbelievably hectic since my return to Chicago this summer. This has been a true eye-opener to the real world, and although I'm rising to the occasion it sure does make it difficult to fit everything into my schedule. Regardless, I do plan on beginning to write more frequently from this point on, starting with a recap of tonight's match, so keep your eyes peeled for it!

Prediction: USA in 4. I have heard nothing but good things about the EXTREMELY tall line-up with Rooney/Anderson/Hein/Patak. Talk about stealing Russia's style! Last year vs. Bulgaria, the first night was composed of the starting line-up, with the second having more reserves get playing time. It will certainly be a different look than last year, but I look forward to seeing the future of USA Volleyball, with a lot of guys in their mid-20's starting to hit their stride!

USAV Nationals - 5-27-09

2009-05-27T21:44:00.002-04:00

How it took me 4 days to find the complimentary computer at our hotel is as mind-boggling to you as it is to me. Regardless, plenty of things are worth discussing as we're at the half-way point of Nationals!

First, let's discuss the venue:

* The stadium itself is fantastic. The convention center has 3 domes which makes for a cool interior. As a spectator, this has been the best in regards to set-up out of the 3 I've been to now (Austin and Atlanta being the others). Ample seating at each court, with the stands for the Open courts being much more spectator friendly, as you can view all four courts from any of the "grandstands". Last year, the open courts were cut off from each other, making viewing all the games somewhat difficult.

* As a player, it is not the friendliest of setups. First off, the netting in between courts is 9 feet at best, so players are constantly bouncing balls over them in warmups, causing for an overwhelming amount of replays. Courts seem to have more deadspots than in previous years, and although it doesn't get much better at most big centers, the lack of padding underneath the sport court causes for aches and pains. Even with a two day rest between co-ed and Men's ball, my body is needing more and more care before/after matches.

* The city itself is interesting... I will try to not hold a grudge that virtually every food vendor was shut down on Sunday/Monday. Construction right now is BRUTAL. I never thought I'd see more construction than I do in Chicago, but Minneapolis is certainly trying to one-up us. The nightlife isn't nearly as entertaining as it was in Austin, but there are some nice hotspots like Brit's and Bootleggers, and the homeless population obviously is a bit less aggressive compared to Atlanta. I'd put it behind Austin but ahead of Atlanta.

As for volleyball, I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the Open level. I realize that some of these players are professionals (the women's A2 teams being there/a few men on the National Training Team Roster included), and maybe they use this for socializing more than competing, but watching players with physical ability mail it in is depressing. One match you'd see some absolutely fantastic ball, an example being the Paul Mitchell/Creole 5-setter where Paul Mitchell overcame a 2-0 deficit, winning the 5th 21-19. Later in the day, Creole's players are goofing around, half-assing their swings and getting smoked by a much weaker squad that simply wants it more. Too many matches lacked passion from both teams, and I honestly enjoyed watching AA/A ball much more. Although the physical ability wasn't as good, these players wanted it, leading to much more exciting volleys.

Individually, I had fun playing co-ed with friends, we weren't the most competitive team, but we gave it our all and most importantly we had a lot of fun. We took 5th, losing to a team that lost in the finals. The people that organized the team hadn't won a set in the previous two years they had competed, so they couldn't be happier with how we played! I don't get to play with them too much, so I'm glad that we had a chance to hang out both on and off the court.

Today was the first day of our men's team competition, and despite our best efforts we went 2-0. Still working out the kinks, but I'm confident that we'll come out strong tomorrow now that we've gotten our nerves in order. Great comeback in the 2nd match from being down 7-3 in the third set, so hopefully we use that momentum to continue our success tomorrow!

8 AM games, so I'm watching the Lakers/Nuggets game then getting to bed early. More updates tomorrow!

Minneapolis: Here we Come! USAV Nationals

2009-05-22T10:05:00.003-04:00

Hello all,

I'm about to begin our drive from Chicago and Minneapolis, and could not be more excited. I'll be there the entire week, and hope to take some good video as well as provide an inside perspective of all the festivities. If anyone has a specific request, feel free to e-mail me at Bpmcder@gmail.com, otherwise I have quite a few interviews/topics I hope to cover already.

Hopefully I'll see some of you there!

The Grassroots of Volleyball in the United States: How Do We Fix it?

2009-05-19T12:06:00.004-04:00

There is a thread on Volleytalk (link is http://volleytalk.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=menvb&action=display&thread=26690) discussing an article that was posted in the most recent USA Volleyball magazine about whether or not the sport is dying. This is not the first time I've thought about the sport and its lack of promotion in certain areas, so I figured I'd write a quick blog on it.

Going outside the box and switching gears a bit from the thread's tone:

I brought up the point on THE NET LIVE's last show that the sport here seems to struggle to be appealing to younger kids (5-8 would be the age I'm referring to, although I'd even add a year or two on the top end). It is a painfully fundamentally demanding sport. Unlike soccer, where a kid can completely whiff kicking the ball, yet play continues as the other 20 children follow him/her around the field, volleyball has too many stops when serves are missed, people can't pass, etc.

Basketball was my favorite sport growing up. I remember being 5, running downstairs for christmas, and seeing the plastic 4-foot basketball hoop that I could play with. I spent countless hours on it. Fast forward a few years where I had the Chicago Bulls wooden backboard with an actual metal rim that could hang about 5 1/2 feet above ground on the back of my bedroom door. Even though I was too small to be able to make a basket on a regulation hoop, I was still able to play a version of the sport at a level that kept it somewhat interesting.

Even with Baseball, you have t-ball to give children the ability to hit that would never be able to hit a ball that was pitched to them.

What do we have with volleyball?

Even within the sport, at the club level we realize that once a player finds a club that they're happy with, the odds of them leaving are slim (and yes, I realize that the legality behind not being able to recruit a player from one club to another comes into play). Still, if a child falls in love at the age of 5 with soccer, baseball, basketball, or any other sport, what are the odds they'll be pulled away by volleyball at 10-13? Our sport is coming into play much later than other sports, and other than cases where older siblings/parents play it, their exposure to it compared to the rest is minimal.

How do we counter this?

If I was in charge, I'd be looking for a way to make the sport adaptable for younger kids. I would create a sport court that could be broken down which had smaller dimensions for a court. A net system that was MUCH shorter. A ball that stayed in the air a bit longer (lighter balls are nice, but it doesn't change the time that children need to be able to react to the ball - perhaps something in between a volley lite and a beach ball?)

I have no doubt that people with a little money, a lot of time, and some creativity can find a way to make the sport more child-friendly without sacrificing the basic principles of the game, as well as the overall fundamentals used. If you had a smaller court, a net low enough where children could put it over on a regular basis, and a ball that moved a bit slower in order to make it easier to keep it in play, volleys would be longer and the appeal to play it would increase.

Just my thoughts on the topic.

Loss of a Great Man: R.I.P Wayman Tisdale

2009-05-15T12:12:00.003-04:00

I apologize for the lack of updates - I've been trying to get my ducks in a row since my return to Chicago, so my volleyball happenings have been a bit sidetracked. I assure you I'll have quite a few posts coming up in the near future, so don't take this off the bookmarks quite yet!

I did want to put a brief update regarding some sad news I read about today: Former NBA player Wayman Tisdale passed away this morning at the age of 44. Although he was a great player on the court, his personality and impact he had off the court was absolutely awe-inspiring. I beat this point to death constantly, but in a time where professional sports is littered with greedy athletes where steroids and run-ins with the law run on the ESPN ticker frequently, stories like Wayman Tisdale's are refreshing.

I had always been a fan of his, but reading this 2008 article (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?page=tisdale-081203), I found myself with a much greater respect for him as a person.

"You can never give up because quitting is not an option. No matter how dark it is or how weak you get, until you take that last breath, you must fight."

--Wayman Tisdale

You will be missed.

More updates on USAV Nationals, sand season, and other topics soon.

An Interview with an Olympian: Chatting with Brook Billings

2009-04-25T15:21:00.003-04:00

As a 19-year old that just began to really get into the sport of volleyball, I used every single source to further my knowledge of the game, as well as network with as many players as possible. I may not use myspace often anymore, but a) it was how I got in touch with Coach Dave, so technically without it I may have never found the path I did, and b) many professional players ended up having profiles. I friended a lot of Olympians, and most accepted, but actual discussions were rare.

This was not the case with Brook Billings.

I remember watching a video of the United States' AMAZING comeback against Greece in the 2004 Olympics, and Billings had an absolute cannon of an arm on the right side. Stanley is probably the name that comes to mind for most current fans of USA Volleyball when thinking of opposites, but Billings was a crucial piece of the puzzle en route to a 4th place finish during those games, which at the time was a pretty big accomplishment for a team that was still finding their identity.

Upon friending Brook Billings, I asked him about how to improve my game, getting overseas, and other various topics. Not only did he answer, but he would answer quickly, and with long, detailed responses which he'd clearly put a lot of time and thought into.

Years later, I messaged him on facebook asking if he'd be willing to answer some questions for an interview, and although a lot of time had passed since our previous conversations, he was still the same guy he was the first time we had talked. If more elite athletes were like him, the professional sports world would be a better place.

Thank you for your time Brook. For the readers that aren't familiar with you, could you give a brief volleyball background? (College, Years played professionally, countries you played in, etc.)?

USC, 7 years in Europe and 1 summer in Puerto Rico. 7 years with Team USA...Vienna Austria, Osaka Japan, Eregli Turkey, 3 years Czestochowa Poland, Istanbul Turkey.

What are some of your favorite hobbies when not playing volleyball?

Surfing, Beach Volley, water skiing, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Laker Games!, Lounging at the pool, a little golf, some Tennis, Palm Springs and boating in Big Bear.

When you first began to play overseas, what was the biggest obstacle in regards to culture shock?

Def the language was an issue but I was also surrounded by Americans my first year. Getting paid and having some money in my pocket was a nice change. It also made playing more like a job and more stressful. Living so far away from family was hard as well. I think that is the main object that breaks a lot of players' careers. They aren't able to live so far away from loved one and friends and get super homesick. Its a hard thing to do...A lot of players also want to come over and just have fun while getting paid. Its not like that. Clubs expect you to be professional.

What do you miss the most when you're not back in the States?

Of course my family and friends. Its hard to hear about family get togethers for the holidays while over here. Also missing a friends bday or even wedding and being so far away only to be see the photos after. I also miss going to Laker games and good mexican food!

What's one of your favorite things about the culture you currently reside in that isn't found in the United States?

I think having lived in Poland which is a 90% Catholic country and then living in Turkey which is a 90% Muslim country you learn to appreciate everyone's views and beliefs. Currently living in Turkey, to answer the question...I enjoy learning the History. Still seeing some of the ancient ruins through out the entire country is pretty amazing. I love the outdoor cafe's for coffee. It just has a different vibe than at home. people at home are always stop into Starbucks for a coffee on the road. here they take their time and enjoy the atmosphere.

Can you give readers an idea of your typical off-day?

Two or three times a week we only have one training in the afternoon so I have a lot of free time. Its hard to say what I do on my "off days" because i'm not a cold weather guy. I tend to meet up with my friends from the team and their families to get coffee or hang out. I have been playing a lot of Uno with my friend Vladamir Grbic and his family in the evenings. its a great game to be with friends and hang with eachother. I like to go for walks and get outside when its not raining. I take a lot of naps as well.

And how about days you have matches?

I'm kind of a supersticious guy and like to do things that have reflected good matches. Wake up and breakfast that is usually cereal and a banana with a big cup of coffee, If you haven't noticed by now... I'm addicted to coffee! I'll take a walk just to get out of the house/hotel and then come back and rest before lunch. After Lunch I will dark out my room and take a nap, granted it is a night match. after my nap I like to take a shower to wake up and pound a lot of water/powerade to hydrate. Maybe grab a sandwich or some sort of snack that will give me energy and then listen to music on my way to the match thinking about how I am going to enter the match. Jump and hit the ball high off the block, throwing my toss nice and high on my serve, and trying to grab the ball while blocking. Just little notes to myself to start focusing before warm ups.

Congratulations on being selected for the Preliminary World League Roster! It's been almost 9 years since you played a pivotal role in the United States' 4th place finish (Editor's Note: I completely botched this, I have no idea how I missed that. What I MEANT to say was it's been almost 5 years since playing a pivotal role in the 2004 Olympics, not the 2000 Olympics.) - What are the biggest changes you've made since that time, and what are your goals for the near future?

Thank you for the congratulations first of all. Its an honor to play for the National Team and I'm very happy that they still have trust in me to represent team USA in World League. I hope to be able to play my best and be a main guy on the squad this quad.

Second, I've only played on the National Team for 7 years and the 4th place finish we in 2004. But you're right, I have not played much of a role on the team since those games. It was really hard not getting much of a chance to play these past 4 years...and the chances I did get I always felt that I had to show everything in one match. Stressful! but without a doubt I understood that there were 2 great players ahead of me and by no means was it a knock to my level of play. Clay Stanely and Gabe Gardner went out there and did it everyday for the team.

I haven't changed much except gaining more knowledge of my own capabilities. I am learning every time I step on the court and trying to beat my worst enemy...my head. This game is just as mental as it is physical.

My near goals are to start for the USA team this summer and just keep working hard.

With leagues running almost year-round, what do you think is the biggest key in keeping your body from breaking down during the course of a season?

Lots and lots of ice and therapy. Resting on my off time is also going to prolong my career. Staying in the weight room is a must as well. If your muscles are weak then your joints are going to take on more stress...Joints are the problems that keep most athletes out.

What's the best piece of advice you can give readers in developing as a volleyball player?

You can not stress hard work and communication enough. There are a ton of talented players that can get away without working hard but if you don't communicate on the court you are going to have a real hard time getting to the next level. The best thing my high school coach, Jon Lee, taught me was communication between players.

What's next for you after volleyball?

I have no idea. I hope to meet the right girl and start a family. I would love to do something that helps people as a profession but one task at a time...and right now it is making as much money as possible with this sport to be able have a cushion till that opportunity comes along.

To conclude, I found it interesting that even as one of the best players in the world, he admits that it can be difficult to win the battle against yourself mentally. I found it interesting that he's been to two countries with VERY different cultural backgrounds... it's probably been quite the eye-opener. It seems that he's been a key role in his team's success in Turkey this season, and I look forward to hopefully catching him with the USA team when they stroll into Chicago in July!

A Thank You.

2009-04-23T21:06:00.002-04:00

I normally don't write about individual accomplishments of mine, but I'm going to change that for a moment to write about an award I received due heavily in part to a few people around me.

It's funny how certain things can just shoot a random memory back into your head. I was in Chipotle today and a Lucinda Williams (country singer most people probably have never heard of) song comes on. I have heard the song probably over a hundred times. This was the first time I had heard it in well over 10 years. The reason I remember it is because my mom and stepdad, divorced since 1999, used to play it all the time in our house in Villa Park. Immediately my mind starting racing towards memories of things that happened during that time. Quite the odd feeling, but kind of nice as well.

Tonight, I was awarded in my opinion the greatest award I've ever received, the 2009 Newbury Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. This states that I had the highest cumulative GPA of all student-athletes for the year. I had a feeling I may win it, but until they began the description of my career, I wasn't certain.

Immediately, my mind flashed to one specific memory: I was sitting in my living room, both biological parents sitting down with me (although it's not due to bad blood, this does not happen often). It is the summer of 2004, and one year after being an Illinois State Scholar graduating high school with a 3.5 GPA, I've come home from ISU with a 1.48 GPA. I was depressed, no longer interested in my major, and for the first time in my life, lacking direction of any sort. Most importantly, I was straight-up embarrassed. I had come close to meltdowns from time to time, but this was the first time I had to look my parents in the eye knowing that I had failed.

It has been an interesting 5 years. I have bounced around various jobs/career interests, and although I have had some stability in my direction as of lately, it wasn't always like this. For a parent, I cannot imagine the roller coaster I put them through, wondering if I'd ever find something I'd like to stick with. Even when I did with volleyball, my father was extremely nervous about my decision to rack up the debt it would take to come to Boston. Even with his lack of approval of the idea, he always supported me, as did the rest of my parents.

His nerves were a bit calmed when he sat down for lunch one day with Coach Dave Hildebrandt when I arrived at the school in January 2007. We went to Legal Seafood, and I basically sat there listening intently to the conversation my father and Dave were having. I can assure you that of all the things they discussed, the one thing that probably put my dad at ease was Dave's stress of good academics. When my father hugged me goodbye a day later and wished me luck, it was the first time I truly felt like a genuine comfort on his end with my decision.

Throughout the next few years, Dave helped me become a better player on the court, but more importantly helped my growth as a human being off of it. We didn't always see eye-to-eye, he didn't know the mechanics of the game all too well, but Dave was the poster child of a man making the most out of his abilities. There are people that had issues with Dave, and I'm sure many of them have some weight. However, everyone has their faults, and Dave's positives HEAVILY outweighed the negatives.

The loss of Dave this year has been harder on me than anything I have ever dealt with. Even though he was going to Elms, there is no doubt in my mind he would be just as willing to shoot the breeze with me on the phone as he did when I'd enter his office. I may not be appealing my final year anymore, but I know that if he was around, he would have been the first one to help me with the process.

I don't know if I'll ever completely recover from his death.

I worked hard to earn this award tonight, but the foundation to do so was built by both my parents and Dave. I wouldn't have done it without their constant support, in good times as well as bad.

This one's for them.

End of Season Reflections.

2009-04-16T18:48:00.002-04:00

This is probably going to be one of the most difficult posts I have ever written. Not because I don't know what to write about: Frankly I could put 5,000-10,000 words down on this easily. However, I don't want to write in a manner that's just venting, I don't want to burn bridges or point fingers, and I don't want to turn this into a "woe is me" piece. The purpose is going to be to make observations of both self and team, and hopefully others can take something from it, whether to use the good for their own situation, avoid the bad, or simply have someone to relate to when dealing with rough situations.

We finished 24-13, which doesn't look bad on paper, but in my mind was a complete failure given our goals. In four spurts, we (in the correct order) went:

16-1

1-10

6-0

1-3

Peaks and Valleys anyone? So what went wrong?

Fingers were pointed everywhere. To an extent, everyone was right. Did the coaches make mistakes? Absolutely. Did we as players make mistakes? We sure did. But because both sides weren't willing to focus on fixing our own mistakes and proceeded to dwell on others, no one was really working to fix it.

Personally, as a team, I think our biggest issue was as good as we were, we didn't know how good we weren't. We didn't have a definitive leader that everyone felt comfortable following. Even with 3 days left in the season, we were still fiddling with line-ups, looking for the "right one", when the issue was never what 6 people were in what 6 spots, as much as how those people conducted themselves on the court, both in practice as well as in matches. The confidence that helped make us so successful the first half of the season was nowhere to be found the second half... multiple people on the team openly stating that the 16-1 start could have had more to do with the schedule being easy than us actually being good...

The chemistry that was so strong at the beginning of the year disappeared, and quickly at that. Playing time became an issue with most people, and you could tell when it was on player's minds. When the 2nd team went in, the 1st team would goof off on the sidelines and support only in spurts (and I'm being generous). Towards the end of the season, you could hear a pin drop on our sidelines during the game. This is not a shot at anyone specific, just a red flag that things were not as they should have been.

I would say that the coaching staff was forced to bite off more than it can chew - and I don't fault them for that. They were thrown in a VERY unfamiliar situation to them, and we certainly didn't make their job any easier. We knew there was more leash than we probably should have had, and players were pretty open about that fact - yet we still took as much as we were given. Although I would have liked more discipline, shame on us for not disciplining ourselves. We're adults now. We should have been accountable, we weren't (probably still aren't), and this season most likely will always be looked back on as a disappointment.

It will be hard not being able to play next season. I finish my 3-year career with over 1100 kills, 950 digs, 100 aces, various awards... But it all is hollow without the team awards. It saddens me knowing I was one game away from the Final Four and we couldn't pull it through, but I hope that the team learns from this season, works hard in the off-season, and comes with a chip on their shoulder next year, a little stronger, a little smarter, and most importantly a little hungrier. The talent is there. But as we learned this season, it's nothing without the hustle.

First Post as a Former Nighthawk...

2009-04-13T11:04:00.002-04:00

Saturday marked the end of my three-year career as a player at Newbury, and although we came up short in the finals of the ECAC's, I was glad we ended it there rather than at NECVA's. I unfortunately can't post everything I'd like to right now (internet is still terrible at our dorms, extremely frustrating as it's taking a toll on my ability to do work), but a few topics to be discussed:

End of Season Reflections
Where I'm going from here
USAV Nationals next month
Speakers from a couple weeks ago
Interviews with Olympians Reid Priddy/Brook Billings

I'm sure there are more as well, those are just the ones that come to my mind at the moment. I can say that it's sad to not be able to come back one more year to play, but I know the team still has a chance at having its best season yet, and will be cheering from them when it rolls around again, hopefully from overseas.

I'll post later about the end of the season.

Quick Finals Note

2009-04-05T11:46:00.002-04:00

Internet has been TERRIBLE at my dorm. I'm about to head over to the finals with my friend, but wanted to note that the lack of updates has been due to the tin-can and string connection in my room.

To be honest, I have no idea regarding who will win in the finals today. Watching Stevens, I feel they have the most firepower of all the teams that were at the tournament. However, they did give up spurts here and there due to lack of concentration, and they seem vulnerable to good off-speed shots. Still, when they play at their best, I don't think anyone can stop them.

On the other end Naz REALLY impressed me this year. Leahy was a better setter than I originally remembered, nothing flashy, just good ball placement, scrappy defense, and great leadership. Meanwhile, my original worry of a freshman outside leading the charge proved to be the exact opposite. Billy Gimello was one of the most impressive players at the tournament, NEVER changing facial expressions, no matter what the play. Completely focused at the task at hand. Smart player, great athletic ability. It's scary when you look at someone's poise and the name "Tiger Woods" came to my mind. Overall, I thought Nazareth looked like the hungriest team at the tournament, and hustle beats talent in my opinion.

It's going to be a close game. I'm going to give the veterans the edge and say Stevens in 5. Can't wait to go watch.

Unbelievable and Completely Believable All at Once.

2009-04-04T11:49:00.000-04:00

Going to bed last night, I was unsure of what I'd feel in the morning. The last waking hours of the night, I was pretty numb. Lots of reflection, some intentionally, other things just sorta light-bulbing in my head.

To sum it up, PBU beat us in 4. I was optimistic going into this match, and some of that was completely blind. Realistically, we've never been the same after we had that 1-10 skid. One night against Endicott where we put it all together, but other than that, we hadn't played a complete match in 2 months.

Philly Bible reminded me of Vassar without the complex offense. They didn't have a ton of physical talent, but they all played their role, hustled for every ball, took what was given to them, and supported each other from the first point to the last. On the other end of the floor, we looked completely out of our element, a couple moments of things boiling over both on the court and in the huddles, followed by complete silence on the floor for a couple plays. It was a low point in my career as a nighthawk, and although I'll look back on my time here with fond memories... if my appeal doesn't go through it will be a sad way to end it.
There's a saying that Randy Pausch said which goes "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you want", and I think that although short-term this stings, I will take SO much from this as I grow as a player and as a coach. Forgive me parental units, but as someone with 6 parents due to divorces (it's not as bad as it sounds - I have good relationships with all of them and they don't fight - so no "woe is me" going on here), I always joked around to people about learning what NOT to do in relationships growing up. With this team, it's the same thing. I've learned what a team cannot do if they expect to succeed.

While talking with one of the teammates last night, he said "I guess we found out we weren't the team we thought we were", and I disagree on that. However, we DID find out that we weren't as self-reliant as originally thought. When Dave was leaving us for Elms, we actually looked at this as a potential way to get a better coach, something that would make us even better. However... I think I learned to appreciate little things Dave did that I hadn't even realized when it was happening.

I remember losing to Vassar 30-12 in the finals last year. Dave went to every single one of us and told us to keep our heads up, we gotta look to ECAC's, the finals was an accomplishment. And I hated him for it at the time. Anything less than the Final Four was a disappointment to me. After last night? I missed that. I NEEDED that. I sat on the bench getting dressed for the bus, and the coach didn't huddle us up, didn't say anything to us, and the first thing she said in the van was how she was pissed off about how girls came to the bench after the game, and how it was never to happen again.

Forgive me for being agitated with this, but a little volleyball talk or reflection on what just happened would have been something I'd be a little more interested in hearing our volleyball coach discuss. I tend to be somewhat politically correct in my blogs, but the way we were (or weren't would be more accurate) coached this season sickens me, and the way it ended was a perfect example of how the whole season went. If you don't know where to set the bar, don't put it anywhere you please, especially low.

So where do we go from here? We may have ECAC's, but to be honest, I don't think anyone feels the significance of it last the last 2 years. Honestly? If it happens, I will play with everything I have. If it was up to me? Let the season go. The goals were Molten's. ECAC's are a consolation prize in my eyes... Even if we were to three-peat in it, it isn't going to define our season or put a nice little "finish with success" tag on the season.

Couple days of rest, going to watch some of the tournament, and we'll see if the season's over. If it is, I'll probably begin my weightlifting, haven't decided if I want to hop on the Tennis team for the last half of their season. I may just want to get my body patched up. I'll post some thoughts on the tournament now.

We Have Internet! Running Diaries - Ramapo/Elms.

2009-04-03T15:53:00.035-04:00

Finally got internet up here, apparently I'm not intelligent enough to figure out how to connect to their internet here at MIT, let alone actually attend the institution. Props to the assistant coach/random ball shagger for helping!

Nazareth/Emmanuel just finished, was closer than I expected, but Nazareth came through. I wrote in a notepad file, I will post it tonight.

SET 1: (Ramapo Score - Elms Score)

0-0 Elms does a loud cheer in Spanish. Entertaining to watch the lone American Kleckner try to fit in on that.

0-1 Andujar dump on 2 gives Elms the early lead. They have two big guns in Velez/Bravo, but rarely go to them on the first play.

5-1 Timeout Elms. Ramapo fires off a run to push Elms back. Elms' serve receive, which has been its saving grace during its recent hotstreak, seems a bit shaky. Probably nerves being on the big stage, but I wouldn't count them out yet.

6-1 Ace by Donahue. Ramapo is booming.

8-2 A net violation by Ramapo breaks the run, but DeLeon misses the serve to give the ball back to Ramapo. A sloppy volley ensues on the next play, with a waffled overpass giving Ramapo the point.

9-4 Block by Elms. Hopefully this will help them calm down... you can see they're a bit nervous. Bravo isn't on the court, possibly as he's seen as a defensive liability... still, with the weak passing, it makes you wonder if he wouldn't be a good bailout option.

11-5 Nice spurt by Ramapo to get the ball back, but Velez just hit the best line shot I've ever seen in Division III. Holy crap.

14-5 Hitting error by Velez followed by a Ramapo kill gives them the 9 point lead... Elms has got to calm down if they want to make a push for this set.

17-6 Ace by Ramapo/block on Bravo keeps the bleeding going. The passing is non-existent on Elms' side.

18-7 Sideout by Elms, but a slide by Donahue gets the ball back.

19-7 Timeout by Elms. Bravo mishits a roll into the net. This team is a shell of what it was last weekend at NECC's... I am optimistic that they can pick it up, but I wonder if Ramapo will give them any ground for a comeback this set.

22-8 Missed serve by Ivan. They've got to make Ramapo earn their points!

24-10 Nice kill by Velez, but Elsasser tools the block. Ramapo is siding out incredibly well.

24-12 Kill by Kleckner followed by a setting error by Sierra gives Elms just a bit of momentum.

26-13 Great tool by Donahue. He just makes good decisions, swings high and off hands as good as anyone in Division III.

28-14 Waffle by Donahue lands for the kill. Elms seems to have put Bravo on the opposite for blocking purposes, but it may actually be hurting them, as I personally feel they play their best ball with him on the outside.

30-15 Hitting error by Cruz gives Ramapo the game. Just by watching I am confident that Elms hit in the negatives. If they don't move Bravo to the outside for bailouts, or clean up the passing, this could be a quick three setter...

SET 2.

1-1 Hitting error by Donahue, then serving error by Andujar.

1-2 PHENOMENAL x by Elms gets picked up after an incredibly lucky bounce off the curved ceiling, but DeLeon gets a second chance and puts it away. Starting to look like the Elms I know.

2-3 Kill by Donahue followed by a tool by Cruz.

4-4 Net violation by Bravo ties it up.

4-5 Bravo hits a cross shot from the outside to take the lead. Elms has seemed to shake off the jitters and began passing. This one is going to be close...

6-7 DeLeon blasts his second kill in a row. Not normally one of their heavy hitters, if he can continue to produce consistently it will give them an unexpected boost.

6-8 DeLeon with another kill!

8-9 DeLeon blocked/hit the next out of bounds... uh oh.

9-9 Kill by Cruz ties it up.

11-10 Velez blasts a line-shot, followed by Elsasser (13, apparently there are two) hitting one of his own from the right side.

11-13 Two straight blocks by Elms gives them the two point advantage.

11-14 HUGGEEEE block by Sebastian/Bravo gives them 3 in a row. Ramapo is loud, but the crowd seems louder, and the masses seem to like Elms.

13-17 Another block on the outside by Sebastian/Bravo! Crowd goes nuts.

15-17 Great backrow attack by Donahue/hitting error by Sebastian brings Ramapo within two.

16-17 Failed x attempt by Bravo.

16-18 Great hit by DeLeon to break the run.

22-23 Lost internet briefly :( play's been going back and forth. Hitting error by Kleckner.

22-24 Kill by DeLeon off the x gives Elms a 2 point lead.

22-25 great volley, Carrasco gets a huge dig off Donahue and Velez puts it away.

22-26 Velez goes OT on the outside to give Elms a 4 point lead.

23-26 Elsasser (13) crushes a quick to sideout.

24-26 DeLeon overpasses, McNeill puts it down.

25-26 Setter stepped under the net for Elms.

25-28 Timeout Ramapo. Velez gets 2 MONSTER swings dug, player on ground for Elms digs 2 balls while laying on the ground, and Velez tools the block, at which point the crowd goes BESERK. The whole gym seems to be pro-Elms... which looks to be about 150 people from about 6-8 teams.

26-28 Huge kill by Kohler to silence the crowd.

26-29 Slide by Sebastian to give Elms its first set point.

27-29 Sebastian gets the block but grazes the net. Set point two for Elms coming up.

28-29 DeLeon overpasses it and Donahue swipes it right to get the point. Third set point for Elms.

28-30 Elsasser (16) serves a floater out to give the set to Elms. Brutal. It'll be interesting to see how Ramapo comes out. They seem to be hitting very conservative at the pins... Sierra is putting the ball almost at the ten foot line to give his hitters space, but I wonder if it's truly beneficial to give them that much room.

SET 3:

2-1 Nice start by Ramapo, but DeLeon sideouts on a cross shot to stop the run.

3-1 Great serve by Andujar, but the libero comes up with a BEAUTIFUL pass, and Donahue puts it away on the rightside.

6-1 Serve Receive getting a bit sloppy for Elms, Donahue on a nice run.

7-1 Timeout Elms after Castillo blasts a crosscourt shot. Even when Elms gets the pass, it seems like the chemistry with Andujar and the hitters isn't where it was last set. Bravo's been out this whole run.

8-4 Two missed serves and a hitting error by Ramapo lets Elms back in it.

9-4 Great backrow attack by Donahue. He's got one of the best in the country for D-III.

12-4 Velez gets blocked, then Backlund gets back-to-back aces. He's one of the few serving specialists in D-III that I actually feel serves his purpose well...

12-5 Just jinxed him. Missed serve into the net gives Elms the ball back.

12-6 Block by Velez and Sebastian. Bravo back in the front row, could lead to a run.

13-6 Hitting error by Bravo off a broken play.

13-7 GREAT pass by Carrasco leads to a crosscourt rightside kill by Velez.

16-7 Hitting error by DeLeon on back to back plays. Timeout Elms. Their discouragement with their play is apparent, and they certainly look more similar to the team we watched in the first set. A good pass to get Bravo a decent look could stop the bleeding...

16-8 Nice pass leads to quick kill by Sebastian.

17-8 Missed serve by Sebastian. Elms can't afford mistakes like that...

18-8 Block by Ramapo. Not appreciating them stealing our YOU SHALL NOT PASS chant.

19-9 Ace followed by a missed serve. Andujar back to serve... he needs a big run here.

19-10 ... and gets the ace off the tape!

20-10 Donahue tools DeLeon off the slide for the point. He's been showing his versatility all match, hitting from every spot on the court.

21-10 Castillo with the cross court kill. Freshman for Ramapo, great vert, nice shoulder... if they could get him to glide a bit more instead of jumping straight up he could become a VERY strong player over the next few years.

22-15 Back-to-back kills by Velez. Elms showing some life...

23-15 Quick by Kohler to sideout.

23-16 Lift by a Ramapo player after 2 pancakes in the same play... Yikes.

24-17 Point Elms... but another pancake by Ramapo, they're not letting anything hit.

25-17 Sierra wins a joust against Cruz for the point.

26-17 Donahue tools Andujar for the point. Elms is using a lineup where he hits a couple rotations... which I just don't understand.

27-17 Hitting error by Andujar. Scary moment when Donahue seems to land on Andujar's foot, coming up limping. Timeout Elms, and he seems to be walking it off.

28-17 Roof by Donahue on Andujar. Guess he's fine.

28-18 Nice cross-court shot by DeLeon to get the ball back. I just realized I haven't been writing much about Bravo... he's on the sideline. They can't afford to keep him out for long stretches like that. It seems like he hasn't taken many swings.

30-18 Ace Ramapo to end the set. Crowd is starting to disburse, most likely to check out the Stevens/EMU game. If Velez/Bravo don't catch fire, this could end quickly...

SET 4:

0-1 Ace by Andujar to start the game.

1-1 ... Followed by an error. Wish he missed that much against us...

2-1 Bravo with the error. Why is he starting in the 2?

2-2 Quick by Cruz ties it up. Bravo's in the backrow now... And they're keeping him in. I suppose that's acceptable as I realize they want to get Velez to the front.

6-3 Ramapo picks up a few clutch digs to make a nice run.

7-4 Donahue with another backrow attack. I'd be interested to know what his hitting percentage running the pipe, sometimes I think he hits that better than he does frontrow.

8-6 Velez to the back, and Bravo to the front... they finally put them opposite again. This seems to have been their best lineup when they play us, I never understood why they don't do it from the start.

9-8 Kill by Sebastian - Elms' middles have come a LONG way since the beginning of the season, which is probably a big reason they've come on strong to finish the season.

11-9 Elms gets two soft blocks on Donahue... only to let the cover put it over and let the ball hit the ground. They cannot let that fall.

11-11 A rightside kill by Bravo where he seemed to never come down followed by a block ties it up.

11-12 hitting error by Elsasser (13) gives Elms the lead!

11-13 Castillo goes to hit the pipe and takes it back in his face - ouch.

12-14 Kleckner with a nice cross-court kill to sideout.

13-14 Castillo with a nice tool on the outside.

14-14 Velez under the net to tie it up...

14-15 After a long volley, Sebastian puts the quick down to give Elms the lead. Nice that they're getting production from the role players, that will be key if they want to go to 5.

16-15 Castillo tools the triple block, and Elms calls timeout. Hard to say if either team has the momentum, both are making big plays.

19-15 Velez hits out on the x. Jesus goes under the net saving a ball. DeLeon hits one out. They're starting to give looks to the refs. Not a good way to come out of a timeout.

21-16 Donahue down the line for the kill. Not sure if Elms can make up the difference with the way Ramapo is siding out.

22-16 Ace by Ramapo, and Elms' frustration is evident. They call timeout.

23-19 BRUTAL no call on a lift, good thing Cruz puts it down because the crowd would have erupted.

25-19 Hitting error by Velez/Ace by Ramapo. Elms cannot let balls drop - the aces aren't even being touched.

26-20 Nice slide by Donahue.

27-20 Hit long out of bounds by Cruz. Elms disagrees. You can feel each point hanging over their head for the next 2 plays (sound familiar?

27-22 GREAT dig by Cruz leads to a tool by Velez.

28-23 Missed served by Elsasser (13). Elms needs to run...

28-24 Sierra above the plain on a dump, backrow attack violation.

28-25 Timeout Ramapo. Velez jumps early for the flat 4, but has such a nice arm that he still gets the tool on pure strength.

29-25 Castillo with the clutch kill on the outside. I don't believe he started this match - I wonder if they'll keep him playing the remainder of the tournament.

30-25 Hitting error by Kleckner. They fought hard, but Ramapo was simply more consistent. It's a shame Elms got the 14 seed - if they could have gotten the nervousness out of their system against a weaker opponent they may have been able to claw back. Oh well, that's the craziness of the tournament.

Although I was originally thinking of doing a journal for the third game, but I want to watch both matches, and as their in different gyms I gotta shut it down. I will post tonight with more recaps/thoughts on the day. Wish us luck!

So Many Subjects, So Little Time: First-round Predictions and More!

2009-04-03T10:29:00.002-04:00

I want to start by saying that I will be posting eventually about this last Wednesday. To put it in cliff notes' version, I heard a lecture from the co-founder of Harpoon Ale, saw a great 15-minute interview of Knicks head coach Mike D'Antioni (spelling is wrong, I can just tell), and then sat front row to listen to Johnny Earle (better known in his cult following as Johnny Cupcakes) give one of the most inspirational speeches I've ever listened to. This post WILL happen. Very important stuff.

To give everyone a heads' up, I will try to do a LIVE running diary of the NECVA tournament. As I've never done it before/am unsure of how the MIT wireless network is going to behave, it may hit a few snags at the beginning. However, in a perfect world, starting at 2 pm EST I'll be constantly updating the thread with scores/details on the games. At 2 PM I'll most likely be covering Nazareth/Emmanuel, then at 4 pm Ramapo vs. Elms, and although I'll need to stretch, I may catch the beginning of the Vassar/MIT match.

Time is running short, but I want to get predictions for the first round in. Here we go!

RIVIER (1) vs. HUNTER (16)

Hunter is one of the flashiest teams in Division III, with two of the most explosive under-6 foot hitters in the nation in Wajubiak (spelling) and Ripoll. However, their size has been their achilles' heel, and with Rivier having arguably one of the best middle tandems in the country with Wright/Ferreria, as well as bangers at the pin in Anderozzi/Soucy... This one could get ugly fast. Led by potential All-American Zach Hansen, this could be one of the most lopsided matches in the tournament.

Prediction: Rivier in 3.

NAZARETH (2) vs. EMMANUEL (15)

Nazareth is one of the few teams I haven't seen this year, but I've heard nothing but good things about them. With Senior All-American Leahy running the show, and led by powerhouse freshman outside Billy Gimello, they've compiled an impressive 24-4 record. Many insiders I've talked to feel that they may be favorites to reach the finals (which as a 2 seed would make sense!).

Meanwhile, Emmanuel is an intriguing first-round matchup. They have their flaws, but when they're hot, they compete at a level as high as any team in this tournament. An aggressive serving team with an offense that moves their two outsides from pin-to-pin, they can catch teams off guard. I'm giving the sweep to Nazareth, but don't be surprised if the scores are closer than you'd expect.

Prediction: Nazareth in 3.

RAMAPO (3) vs. ELMS (14)

I remember when Ben Wallace signed a 4-year, 60 million dollar contract with the Bulls. Although the city was excited at the time, he struggled his entire time there, and ended up being a huge bust. Bill Simmons discussed this concept in one of his columns on ESPN, discussing how a player can be underrated, then plays with a chip on his shoulder, then everyone realizes he's underrated and proceeds to talk him up. Eventually, so many people talk about how unappreciated the player is that he becomes overrated.

Elms is one of my favorite teams in the tournament. I have more friends on this team than any other non-Newbury team. However, I feel that with all the attention they've gotten in the last week, a) They've lost their "nobody believed in us!" advantage, and b) You better believe Ramapo is using this as fuel to their fire. Elms is going to put up a great fight, and if they did win, I wouldn't be completely shocked. At the same time... Ramapo is no pushover, and I think that they'll show why they were able to come out on top of a division including teams like Stevens and Vassar. Expect it to go into extra sets, but that's where Ramapo does its best work.

Prediction: Ramapo in 5.

STEVENS (4) vs. EASTERN MENNONITE (13)

Stevens started the season obliterating everyone in its path, and a narrow 5-set loss to Juniata led people to believe that they would be a lock as a top 3 national team for the season. However, injuries and inconsistency stemming from it has led to them dropping to a 4-seed. However, Bocchichio seems to be getting back to full strength, they still have arguably the best middle in the country in Cranford, and Trinsey will not want his career to finish on a sour note.

EMU has a young core with a lot of potential, but it seems like they haven't quite hit their stride. Rumor has it one of their players is out due to grades, and that will definitely hurt if he's as good as I hear he is. Coto's one of my favorite players, but I believe he'll have to wait another year, because they drew arguably one of the best 4 seeds this tournament has ever seen.

Prediction: Stevens in 3.

ENDICOTT (5) vs. NEW PALTZ (12)

A somewhat interesting match-up. Endicott has had a great season, upsetting many goliaths on the way. Coleman is one of the top liberos in the nation, and Witofsky is one of the most versatile middles in Division III. Meanwhile, New Paltz has quietly put together a nice season, and although they finished 4th in their division, keep in mind the 3 teams above them were seeded in the top 6 of this tournament. They're one of the few Division III teams to defeat Stevens (although Stevens was short-handed, it's not something easily done).

They have a nice 1-2 punch in the middle with Stross and Moore, but their setter's height is a liability in the front row, and the outsides on Endicott are pretty big. I expect them to run a pretty nice offense, but they'll struggle with Endicott on the defensive end, and although they may steal a set, I see Endicott advancing.

Prediction: Endicott in 4.

VASSAR (6) vs. MIT (11)

A battle of the brains! Vassar has had an interesting run, going 4-0 at the Nazareth tournament all against nationally ranked teams, but ended the season being swept at home by Endicott. It looks as if Leserman (one of the best liberos in the country) has been moved back to the hitting role. Time will tell if they can get some chemistry going in time, but with 2008 Coach of the Year Johnathan Penn running the show, I am confident they will do well.

MIT has silently compiled a 19-2 record over the last 21 games, and don't take home court advantage lightly. Despite that, Vassar tends to have a faithful crowd following them, and they may even that out better than most teams in the tournament. Although I actually want to give MIT the upset special... my gut tells me Vassar's experience and 2008 NECVA POY Phil Tully will give them the edge and help them prevail.

Prediction: Vassar in 4.

NEWBURY (7) vs. PHILLY BIBLE UNIVERSITY (10)

Very excited for this match. I don't want to go into details before the match, but I will make up for it with a detailed post-game analysis upon my return tonight.

Prediction: Newbury in 4.

BARUCH (8) vs. MEDAILLE (9)

I'm openly admitting bias here. Medaille as the 9 seed still boggles my mind... However, I don't see it being that much of an advantage. I saw Baruch play at the Endicott tournament, and was not impressed as Emmanuel handed them a 4-set loss. However, rumor has it they fell victim to the flu bug like my team did, and all my sources say they've hit their stride as of lately. It's not how you start, but how you finish, and I see Baruch coming in with a big chip on its shoulder and taking it out on Medaille.

Prediction: Baruch in 3.

Alright. Time to get some lunch and head over to MIT. I will try to post when I get settled in! Wish me luck!

NECVA TOURNAMENT SPECIAL: Mini-Interviews!

2009-04-01T22:17:00.004-04:00

When I step on the court, everyone on the other side becomes the enemy. Although they may be nice guys, they are all obstacles in the way of my goal, and I'll do whatever I have to in order to take the win from them.

However, I do enjoy talking ball with the guys off the court. It's always interesting to get different perspectives and see how things work at other schools. After thinking that people may be tired of just seeing my views all the time. I decided to get some information from other players on their thoughts on the NECVA tournament. Thanks to the guys that got back to me on it!

Ivan Andujar, Junior Setter, Elms

Most exciting first-round match? elms vs. ramapo then hunter vs. riv then newbury vs. PBU

Most under-rated team in tournament (other than your own)? Baruch and Stevens

Biggest Upset of the Tournament? Well after ours... I think Hunter could take Rivier.

Team most interested to watch at the tournament? Stevens.

Any friends on other teams in the field? Bryan "cant pass Ivan's serve" McDermand (Editor's Note: I can't pass Ivan's serve because he's afraid to bring it my way!) and Voytek Jakubiak and Pablo Oliveira.

Random Fact about your team? There is only one American on the team.

Finals Prediction? Elms in 4 over Stevens. I love my team :)

Any last words? I hope to play newbury one more time before the seasons over!!

Believe me, the feeling's mutual :)

Curtis Abram, Sophomore OH, Emmanuel

Most exciting first-round match? I feel like it would be Newbury vs. PBU. It just seems to depend upon which team shows up.

Most Under-rated team in the tournament? I would say EMU, just because of the low seed. If they play consistent they could give Stevens a match.

Biggest Upset of the Tournament? I'm gonna say SUNY New Paltz over Endicott. I feel Endicott has been on a bit of a down slump and SUNY can fire up and take down a big team like that. Or I could be entirely wrong and Endicott pulls out of the slump for the tournament.

Team Most interested to watch at the tournament? Medaille, I'd like to see how a team one game over .500 is a 9 seed.

Do you have any friends on other teams in the field? Haha, yea Wright's (Rivier) a character, but no I don't... being out of the area, I don't know any of the guys from club and such.

Any random facts about your team outsiders may not know about? 6 of our players set for their team in High School, we may have the shortest outside hitter in the nation at 5'8 (Townsend), we don't have a player from MA in our starting lineup and 3 are from CA.

Finals Prediction? Rivier over Vassar in 4 sets.

Any last words? I feel that this years NECVA's is gonna be determined by which teams show up. Alot of lower seeded teams have an ability to knock off top seeds if those lowers come out and play.

Zach Hansen, Junior Setter, Rivier

Most exciting first round match? I personally think the best first round match will be elms vs. ramapo. I can see an upset.

Most under-rated team in the tournament? (although you probably just answered it) haha yea Elms is the most under-rated at 14.

Team most interested to watch at the tournament? Stevens

Do you have any friends on other teams in the field? Yea, one friend on Endicott

Any random facts about your team outsiders may not know about? Our OH Anderozzi had heart surgery the summer before freshman year... that's all I can think of.

Finals Predictions? Riv Over Naz in 4.

Frankie Coto, Sophomore Middle, Eastern Mennonite

Most Exciting first-round match? Well, we will be really pumped and fueled to go out and beat Stevens. Stevens is a cocky team and I really don't like them, besides my good friend Stephan is on their team.

Most under-rated team in the tournament? I really don't see any underrated teams. I could see PBU pulling some upsets, but once Justin gets tired I don't see them getting far.

Do you have any friends on other teams in the field? Haha, besides you, not really. I know the setter/libero from Stevenson, and Stephan from Stevens.

Any Random facts about your team outsiders may not know about? My team is all freshman and we only have one senior, other than that, no. No secrets, just that we might be getting some sick players next year, but I don't want to ruin the surprise. I'll hint that we should be getting a Cuban star from Miami and a Puerto Rican setter.

Finals Predictions? I don't have any predictions because this whole season has been weird for me. But I am going to say that we will not have a repeat performance from the Western Tournament. I am really embarrassed after that poor performance that my team called volleyball.

Any last words? I'm leaving it all on the court.

Joe Trinsey, Senior Outside, Stevens

Most exciting first-round match? I think Vassar vs. MIT will be the most exciting first-round matchup, purely because of the home-court factor. MIT seems to be playing fairly well and Vassar is struggling a bit, so I think it will be close. However, I think Vassar pulls it out in the end.

Who is the most underrated team in the tournament? PBU seems to be under-seeded, but I'm not sure they pull off an upset. Vassar is also a pretty strong 6-seed. I think they are a little like us last year in that they've been pretty inconsistent and most won't expect them to get to the finals, but they're going to be a very difficult second-round matchup.

Who are you most interested in watching at the tournament? Rivier, because we haven't seen them (outisde of watching their webcast matches) and hopefully we'll be seeing them in the semi-finals, so I'm looking to see what their team is like.

Any friends playing that aren't on your team? John Kessenich from Vassar was on my club team. I hung out with some of the Nazareth guys at the NECVA banquet; we were all bummed out after losing so we kind of split out to watch the basketball games. Other than that, I think it's more of a mutual respect factor, especially with some of the seniors who I've matched up with for four years.

Random fact(s) about your team: We've won NECVAs in 2003, 2005 and 2007. Maybe the odd-numbered years are good for us?

Finals Prediction? Well obviously I'm going to pick us and on the other side, it seems like Nazareth is playing the best lately so I will say/hope that it is us over Naz in 4.

Pablo Oliviera, Sophomore Outside, Baruch College.

Most exciting first-round match? In my opinion the 2 most exciting matches are going to be Elmsx Ramapo and Newbury xPBU.

Most Under-rated team of the tournament? The most underated team of the tourney in my opinion is Elms and yes they might upset Ramapo.

Who you're interested in watching at the tournament? I definitely want to watch Elms, Rivier and Newbury(unfortunately its the only team i havent watched yet).

Random fact(s) about the team: Oh well about us I would say just like it happened with you guys(Newbury), a lot of our guys were sick, and this flu definitely did not help us, so i think we are playing more solid now and definitely better.we will see what happens!

Finals prediction: As every player should believe in their team i believe in mine therefore i will say Baruch 3x2 over NAZ, and i do know especially us that we have a tough schedule till then, Medaille, probably Rivier then Stevens, but anything can happen. So lets ball out and see what happens, NECVA will be fun and interesting this year!!

A couple random notes:

I plan on writing my predictions for NECVAS tomorrow.

I confirmed with Paul Dill of MIT that both gyms have wireless. Therefore, I'm looking to get to the gym for the first games and write a few running diaries as the matches progress. Perhaps I'll do an interview or two as well. We shall see!

I was lucky enough to get a hold of Reid Priddy from the USA Men's Volleyball team, and he graciously said yes to doing an interview. If you have a question for the gold medalist, e-mail me at Bpmcder@gmail.com and I'll be sure to include it!

Another update shortly about the day.

My NECVA Seeding Predictions! Part 2

2009-03-29T17:32:00.002-04:00

EIGHTH SEED.

Candidates: Emmanuel, Medaille, New Paltz, MIT, Elms, Baruch

This is where it gets tricky. Let's look at head-to-head:

New Paltz: 4-1 (wins versus MIT, Emmanuel Twice, Medaille, loss to Baruch)

MIT: 4-2 (wins versus Emmanuel, Elms twice, Baruch, losses to New Paltz and Elms)

Medaille: 1-1 (win versus Baruch, loss vs. New Paltz)

Emmanuel: 2-3 (wins versus Elms* and Baruch, losses to MIT and twice to New Paltz)

Baruch: 2-3 (wins vs. Elms and New Paltz, losses to Emmanuel, Medaille, and MIT).

Elms: 1-4 (win vs. MIT, losses to MIT twice, Emmanuel, and Baruch)

hmmm... Records vs. top 7 seeds?

Elms: 3-5

Baruch: 1-4

MIT: 1-5

Emmanuel: 1-6

Medaille: 1-6

New Paltz: 1-6

And the remaining NECVA tournament field? (Hunter, PBU, EMU)

Baruch: 3-1

MIT: 1-0

Medaille: 2-2

Emmanuel: 1-1

Elms: 0-2

New Paltz: 0-2

Total records vs. NECVA Field:

MIT: 6-7

New Paltz: 5-9

Baruch: 6-8

Medaille: 4-9

Elms: 4-11

Emmanuel: 4-10

Losses vs. NECVA teams not in tournament:

New Paltz: 0

Baruch: 0

Elms: 0

MIT: 1

Emmanuel: 2

Medaille: 1

Enough Stats!

Prediction: Baruch.

Why do I say Baruch? Medaille, Emmanuel, and MIT had losses to non-tournament NECVA teams. Baruch defeated the other two teams that went undefeated against those teams. Baruch has a better total record against the 16-team field than the other 2 teams. They also are the only conference champion of the group. However, I do feel they'll be losing in the first round to...

NINTH SEED.

Candidates: Emmanuel, Medaille, New Paltz, Elms, MIT, Hunter

Prediction: Elms.

Elms started the season 2-7. Sequiel, the NECC Freshman of the Year and most probable NECVA New England Freshman of the Year (Assuming Gimello takes the NECVA Freshman of the Year, Sequiel would be a runner-up), joined halfway through that stint. Since then, the team has started to gel, and as far as I'm concerned, they are the sleeper team of the tournament. They've won 9 of their last 10 (the last loss coming to Baruch - interesting!), but they looked extremely sharp this weekend, and I believe they have a lot of positive momentum going into Friday.

TENTH SEED.

Candidates: Emmanuel, Medaille, New Paltz, MIT, Hunter

Prediction: New Paltz.

I really wanted to put Medaille here... I really did. However, I just couldn't justify putting New Paltz below anyone else. A loss to Hunter, a loss to PBU. Those are the only "blemishes" on the record. The other losses: D-I Sacred Heart, Vassar twice, Newbury, Nazareth, UC-Santa Cruz, Stevens, Ramapo, Baruch, D-II East Stroudsburg. New Paltz has a SMALL setter, but they run a somewhat complex offense, the freshman middle has been doing very well, and Jake Moore has been a great leader to the team. Could Medaille get this seed for political reasons? Absolutely. However, I believe New Paltz earned this spot.

ELEVENTH SEED.

Candidates: Emmanuel, Medaille, MIT, Hunter

Prediction: MIT.

(Note: I beleive they will be rated 11th, but bumped to 12th in order to avoid a first-round matchup against Endicott.)

MIT has quietly won 19 of their last 21, defeating Baruch, Elms, Newbury, and Emmanuel in the process. The losses came to D-I Harvard and Endicott. Early losses to Newbury and Elms tarnished their conference record, but they have been playing very good ball, and will look to show that the AQ for hosting is not the only reason they're here.

TWELVTH SEED.

Candidates: Emmanuel, Medaille, Hunter

Prediction: Emmanuel.

(Note: Due to the previous statement regarding MIT, Emmanuel would move to 11th to play Endicott).

They are a peaks and valleys team, but you can't deny they've had some quality wins. Elms, Baruch, Hunter, and Newbury have all dropped matches to this team. A loss to NJCU does make me feel like they may end up 15th if Medaille gets the 12, but Medaille's loss to Stevenson should call this a wash as far as I'm concerned. Both sides are justifiable, but I think looking at how both teams have played the past 2 months, Emmanuel deserves the nod.

THIRTEENTH SEED.

Candidates: Medaille, Hunter

Prediction: Medaille

Boy do they know how to wreck a seeding process. Wins early in the season against Baruch, Endicott, MSOE, and Hunter. A 4-set winner against a re-building Quincy. The win against EMU to get the AQ. Other than that, they have 9 wins against 5 teams with a combined record of 29-92. Coto's my boy, but EMU picked a bad time to get a team squeak a win by them...

FOURTEENTH SEED.

Candidates: Philly Bible, EMU, Hunter

Prediction: Philly Bible

How did PBU draw Nazareth first round of the conference tournament? It doesn't make sense to me... anyways, had they gotten the AQ, they'd be looking at a seeding between 7-9, but instead they'll have their work cut out for them this time around. Perhaps the volleyball gods are making up for the #2 seed they recieved last year...

FIFTEENTH SEED.

Candidates: EMU, Hunter

Prediction: EMU.

(Note: Hunter would flip-flop with them to avoid a Nazareth-EMU match-up).

EMU upset Philly Bible last year to make a surprise run to the semi-finals as a 10 seed, but I don't know if they'll be able to repeat.. Coto is a phenominal middle, they have some young guns, but they haven't seemed to replace the leadership that a few of their graduates from last year brought to the table.

SIXTEENTH SEED.

Prediction: Hunter.

Hunter can be a fun team to watch, but they are really hurting after losing Kowalski/Oliviera to Baruch. A flashy team with hints of greatness, but their lack of size ends up getting the best of them most of the time.

FINAL RANKINGS:

1) Rivier
2) Nazareth
3) Ramapo
4) Stevens
5) Vassar
6) Endicott
7) Newbury
8) Baruch
9) Elms
10) New Paltz
11) Emmanuel
12) MIT
13) Medaille
14) PBU
15) Hunter
16) EMU

This is how I THINK it should go. Some great stories if this was the case would be Ramapo/PBU as PBU recently defeated Ramapo, a potential Newbury/Nazareth 2nd round re-match after last year's 5-set thriller, and Baruch/Elms being a tougher 2nd round opponent than Rivier probably prefers to face.

How I could see politics shifting things:

1) Rivier
2) Nazareth
3) Ramapo
4) Stevens
5) Vassar
6) Endicott
7) Newbury
8) Medaille
9) Elms
10) Baruch
11) PBU
12) MIT
13) EMU
14) New Paltz
15) Emmanuel
16) Hunter

After the 6, all is fair game. We shall see how it plays out tomorrow morning at 9 AM.

Time to do some other things. Quick note: I would appreciate to hear feedback about the blog. Things you'd like me to write about, questions you may have, or just overall comments about it. (Follwers would be nice too, I'd love to know the actual amount of people that visit the blog, even if it's only 8 or 9!)

My NECVA Seeding Predictions! Part 1.

2009-03-29T11:30:00.006-04:00

This post is strictly for the NECVA enthusiast. Attention to detail will be borderline-tedious, and it may prove to be my longest post yet. Before we begin, I will say this: It is the most wide-open field this tournament has ever seen. There are plenty of teams in the 10-16 range that no one wants to play first round. I beleive there will be upsets left and right, and no team is immune to them.

So what are the rules with seedings? 5 sub-conferences, top 2 from each make it, MIT is in automatically as the host, and 5 at-large bids are awarded. A 2 seed from their conference can't be higher than the 1, and an At-large cannot be higher than the 2 AQ's from their conference. However, an At-large in one conference is not bound to be lower than any seed in any other conference. Confused? Fair enough. Let's continue regardless.

What do we know for sure? Thanks to a certain NECVA coach that posts on Volleytalk for making this a copy/paste for me so I can save time.

DIVISIONAL AUTOMATIC BIDS:

CUNYAC: 1. Baruch; 2. Hunter (finalist in division tourney)

GNAC: 1. Rivier; 2. Emmanuel (finalist in division tourney)

METRO: 1. Ramapo; 2. Stevens (finished 1 and 2 in division)

NEW ENGLAND: 1. Endicott; 2. Newbury (finished 1 and 2 in division - Beat out Elms for 2nd place because of who they beat in division)

WESTERN: 1. Nazareth; 2. Medaille (division tournament. Medaille was a bubble team, but earned the AQ because of finish in tourney)

MIT gets an at-large for hosting the tournament, so that leaves 5 teams getting an At-large.

Here are the bubble teams (not in any ranking order):

PBU
EMU
Vassar
New Paltz
Lasell
NJCU
Elms

Let's begin with my predictions for At-Large's, although I will wait to go into detail on them until I seed them in order to save a bit of time.

My "sure things"

PBU
Vassar
EMU
Elms

My "99% sure thing"

New Paltz.

Wow, not too difficult! Unfortunately, this is where the simplicity ends. Without further Adieu, let's begin!

FIRST SEED.

Candidates: Rivier, Nazareth, Ramapo, Endicott, Baruch

Prediction: Rivier.

Rivier is 31-1. This is the only "If I was forced to choose one thing that was for CERTAIN regarding seedings and it was a life or death situation" choice of the tournament. One 5-set loss early in the season at Carthage ruined the perfect season, but I think they'll be fine dealing with it. Weapons at every position, a great setter, phenominal coach... This team earned it. I do have my cynical views regarding how they'll fare at the tournament, but that will be discussed when seedings officially come out and I do a predictions blog.

SECOND SEED.

Candidates: Emmanuel, Nazareth, Ramapo, Endicott, Baruch

Prediction: Nazareth.

Nazareth has quietly established themselves as a force this season. Although the departure of Maving was going to leave a wound, freshman Billy Gimello has provided quite the band-aid, and led by All-American setter Leahy, this team could argue that they're actually the team to beat. Their only losses: First match of the season versus Division I St. Francis, swept by Stevens when Stevens was crushing EVERYONE, a five-set loss to UC Santa Cruz, and a 4-set loss to Vassar. Since then, they've won 8 in a row, defeating Ramapo, Quincy, NYU, PBU twice, Carthage, Medaille, and MSOE. None of those teams are pushovers. Although they'll get the two, the distance between Rivier and Nazareth isn't much.

THIRD SEED.

Candidates: Emmanuel, Medaille, Ramapo, Endicott, Baruch

Prediction: Ramapo

I was interested to see if Ramapo would rise to the occasion or end up putting it on cruise control after being awarded the Molten's and an automatic bid to them, but it hasn't shown any negative side-effects up to this point. I've played against them early in the season as well as watched them at the Endicott tournament, and this team has the most energy out of all of the teams in the field. A deep, LOUD bench, one of the most under-rated players in the country with Shane Donahue, this team won a conference that included powerhouses Stevens and Vassar. Although I think Stevens would have won the conference had these two opponents met earlier in the season, it's all about how you finish, and Ramapo did a hell of a job of that by beating New Paltz/Vassar/Stevens in a one-week span. Being swept late in the season by Philly Bible raises an eyebrow, but it shouldn't be a big enough blemish to award this seed to any of the four candidates, especially since Ramapo defeated all of them during the season.

FOURTH SEED.

Candidates: Emmanuel, Medaille, Stevens, Endicott, Baruch

Prediction: Stevens.

I think Stevens is a perfect example on why a team should never accept the "oh well, we've got a better shot next year anyways" mentality. An early exit last year at the hands of Ramapo led people like me to believe that Stevens would be a monster with a huge chip on its shoulder this year, led by 3 All-American caliber players Cranford, Bocchichio, and Trinsey. Which is exactly how they started the season. However, Trinsey's got a bad shoulder (which I hear is important for hitters taking 30-40 attacks a match, and his workload only got heavier when Bocchichio ended up suffering a freak injury mid-way through the season.

Ever since then, this team has not been the same. I would still put them above the rest as their only losses came from D-I Harvard, a 5-setter against New Paltz where Trinsey/Bocchichio didn't play, a loss to Ramapo, and a 5-setter against D-II Mount Olive. However, I don't believe they have the same intimidation factor they would have had if the Bocchichio injury didn't take place.

Perhaps this turns out to be good for them, with teams sleeping on them a bit more than they would have if they annihilated everyone during the regular season. I still wouldn't want to play them early if I was a lower seed.

FIFTH SEED.

Candidates: Emmanuel, Medaille, Vassar, New Paltz, Endicott, Baruch

Prediction: Vassar

My first hesitant pick comes at the 5 seed, thanks to Endicott sweeping Vassar at Vassar this weekend, as well as Baruch having a stronger season than many people realize. However, I just can't put Endicott over Vassar with the quality of the schedule we're looking at here.

Vassar's 7 losses: Newbury in 5, Springfield twice, Stevens, Ramapo, NYU, Endicott.

Some of Vassar's wins: Carthage, Medaille, EMU, UC Santa Cruz, PBU, Elms, Nazareth.

That being said, I feel that Endicott could have received this seed had they not lost to Newbury earlier in the week. I think Vassar's reputation as the former National Championship Runner-up on top of the quality of their wins puts them in the 5 slot.

SIXTH SEED:

Candidates: Emmanuel, Medaille, New Paltz, Endicott, Baruch

Prediction: Endicott.

I literally was three paragraphs into why I picked Baruch for the six when I doubled back and changed my mind. They may have swept endicott early on, and endicott may have had a couple slip ups against Elms and Newbury recently, but I know Newbury had a great night, and Elms is going to be a sleeper in this tournament without a doubt. Looking at Endicott:

Losses: Baruch/MSOE/Medaille first tournament of season, Stevens, Sacred Heart, Ramapo in 5, Springfield, Harvard, Newbury, Elms, Rivier.

Wins: Carthage, Elms, MIT Twice, Hunter, Newbury, Emmanuel, Vassar.

Baruch's Losses: Medaille, Rivier twice, PBU, King's, MIT, Emmanuel, Ramapo, Stevens.

Which isn't bad. However...

Baruch's Wins: Endicott/MSOE/Carthage at the beginning of the season, Hunter twice, New Paltz, Elms.

They are 33-9, with only 5 wins coming against NECVA-tournament caliber teams, 7 if you count MSOE/Carthage. Other than Endicott and Hunter (and frankly I consider Hunter by default as the 3rd place team in that division wasn't strong), all at-large bids. Therefore, Endicott gets the spot.

SEVENTH SEED.

Candidates: Emmanuel, Medaille, New Paltz, Newbury, Baruch

Prediction: Newbury.

Could we be seeded lower? Absolutely. a 1-10 slump in the middle of the season was absolutely brutal. However, with half the team getting the flu, a couple line-up experimentations, and a few other factors played into this. Although a loss to Elms to finish the regular season stung, a strong victory over Endicott earlier in the week showed that this team still has some fire.

Newbury Losses: Ramapo, Harvard, Endicott, Rivier, Elms twice, MIT, Emmanuel, Cal Baptist, Hope International twice.

Newbury Wins: Hunter, Vassar, Emmanuel, Elms, MIT, New Paltz, Endicott.

Although we've lost our fair share of games, we've also defeated half of the field. Everyone is healthy again, and after our late-season run to the finals last season, there is no doubt that the ability to turn it on is there. Will we be seeded above Baruch? Time will tell.

Taking a break to do some more research, as this is where it gets tricky. Will post the second half later!

Mental Toughness: Part 3

2009-03-29T02:06:00.002-04:00

So going into Endicott, we finally do a line-up somewhat similar to our original one, although I feel the changes were somewhat understandable. We proceeded to play one of our best matches of the season, beating them in 4, with 2 of the wins being by about 10 points. This is the same team that won our conference and swept Vassar tonight, so that was no small feat. This was the type of game we needed to get our confidence back, and I felt like we were heading in the right direction.

Senior night rolls around, and we play Wentworth. We end up using a slightly different lineup, and although we win in 4 the chemistry was definitely lacking. Regardless, it was a good night. I don't believe it's quite sunk in yet that this is all going to be over in a matter of 3 weeks. Although I still am optimistic going for the national championship, I did have a goal of getting 1000 kills and 1000 digs, and although I cleared the kill mark, I will probably end up 30-50 digs short. I felt like this would be an achievement that showed dedication to both sides of the game, and although the numbers were nothing to scoff at, no one likes falling short of their goals, regardless of how high they put them.

Enough individual rambling. A rough practice on Friday, then we had the NECC tournament today. First round was against Lesley, a nice group of guys, but one of the weaker D-III teams out there. Our reserves got a lot of quality time, and gave them quite a thrashing. I was very impressed with everyone's energy/results. I believe the scores were 30-7 30-6 30-12.

This brought us to a finals match-up against Elms. We had split with them during the season, and I had been sick with the flu the time we lost, so I looked forward to getting some redemption for that.

That wasn't in the cards.

The energy we had in the semis did not carry over to the afternoon. The first game I thought we did a very good job of playing one point at a time. They came out on fire, but we continued to side out, wait for them to make mistakes, then capitalize on them. We ended up winning it 30-27. Set 2 starts out with both teams trading points, then their setter goes back and sparks a run, giving them a 4-5 point lead. For the remainder of this set as well as the 3rd, we are a shell of the team we were Tuesday against Endicott. As a matter of fact, looking back on it, I would say most of the issues we were having were the same ones that led to our 1-10 skid midway through the season.

So we get shellacked those two sets. They were unstoppable on offense (we hit a bit over .300 for the match: Elms hit over .400. Yikes). Set 4 we decide to push back a bit, and while we started down a couple points, we fought to get even with them into the 20's, although we fall short 30-27.

I was selected to the All-Tournament Team (A nice addition to the All-Conference First Team Selection I found out about earlier in the day), but I would trade both awards for the championship. Losing to that team stung. They were loud the entire match. They wanted the win more than us whether we want to admit it or not.

A pivotal moment came at the end of set 4. Trailing 27-25, we engage in a scrappy rally that lasts about a minute. At one point, one of our players takes the second ball and it was UGLY. The refs no-call it, and we win the point. Elms erupts, and whatever they said, it caused the up-ref to bring out a yellow card with no hesitation. 27-27, our ball, our court, our momentum.

I feel that moments like this define a team in one way or another. An example of this was our match versus Rivier. We were trailing 28-27, and a phantom touch was called on us. The team erupts in frustration, and carries it over to the next play, where we get aced. 30-27 Rivier. The call sucked, but so did the way we conducted ourselves after, and we paid for it dearly with our lack of focus the next play.

So Elms could have been up 28-25, but are instead tied at 27 with us. In previous years, I would have said this set and most likely match was ours, as they would self-combust at the call and never regain composure. However, they came back, ran a quick, and proceeded to destroy a ball cross-court to spark a 3-0 run to end the match. They briefly lost their cool, but bounced back and played with poise the next 3 points, earning every bit of that NECC Championship. We may have given them the 2nd and 3rd sets, but they took that 4th set, refusing to be denied.

We do have that ability inside of us, and it comes out from time to time, but it's literally a daily process to see which team is going to show up. For weeks, we've been saying we're going to turn it around. Not only are we out of time, but I can't help but wonder if people are starting to question our ability to do so from different things I've heard said. While I can understand it as a 1-10 stint can do some damage to the ego, I respectfully disagree.

The beautiful thing about NECVAS is it's not about who's the best team all season, it's about who's the best team those 3 days. It's about putting all the excuses to the side and wanting it more than the other team. The other team push you with a 3 point run? Get the sideout and come back with four. The ref screw you on a call? Guess we gotta get 31 points. The teams that refuse to dwell on the things they can't control and take action with the things that they can are the ones that will make a run for it.

We have one week to do it. I'm optimistic. Cannot wait til NECVAS. I've gotten 2 All-tournament awards the previous two years, this year I'd like to be holding the tournament championship trophy instead. The bar may have been set lower by those around us after a weak regular season, but we are the ones that decide how high we want to jump.

Ira Thor is being politically correct and refuses to give me NECVA seedings early... shame on him for having integrity. That being said, I plan on doing a NECVA seeding predictions post tomorrow, and we'll see how well I know the committee Monday morning!

Mental Toughness: Part 2

2009-03-25T14:37:00.004-04:00

So we go up against Harvard. Most the guys are still not 100% recovered from the flu, with our starting opposite being the most recently sick player. We had a tough practice the day before, and come out sluggish, dropping the first two sets. However, we pick up a second wind and end up winning sets 3 and 4, before their middle absolutely catches fire from both the front and back row to lead his team to a 15-12 5-set victory. A tough loss, but it could have been worse.

Thursday we head to Endicott, and we have a game where they played some of their best ball, we played some of our worst (including yours truly, who after rolling his ankle the day before hobbled to a 11-11-37 hitting line. One of the worst games of my career). They absolutely destroyed us, and all of a sudden you could see in our eyes that we began questioning our system, despite being 16-3.

Saturday we head to Rivier, the 3rd ranked team in the nation, 19-1 at the time I believe. They have one of the best home-court advantages in the nation, a low ceiling, echo-filled gym with the fans right on top of you. We have yet to beat them there, and although it WILL happen, it was not meant to be this day. We played them tough, going to 4 and losing 33-31 in the final set. Rivier is 27-1, with an early road loss to Carthage being the only blemish on their record.

The next week is when things got interesting. The flu finally hit me the day of the Elms match. As I probably have a lifetime .400 hitting percentage against elms, including a 20 kill 11 dig performance against them earlier in the season, I was aggravated with this situation. I was exhausted during the day, even missing the first exams of my collegiate career (which in order to avoid a call from my dad I will note both were made up). I talked with my coach, and the plan was this:

After remembering how badly I played against Endicott less than 100% the week before, as well as wanting to show confidence that we would win regardless, I would watch the game in street clothes, prepared to throw the uniform on if a scenario called for it. Unfortunately, things got complex...

Rewind to an hour before the game, and I'm laying down in the training room. One of the trainers asks me what is wrong. I explain in full detail why I'm laying down, why I'm not in bed, and clarify that I am here to play if necessary. The trainer asks me if I have a fever, I said I wasn't sure, at which point she retrieved a thermometer and stuck it in my mouth, which I was fine with... not knowing that when she saw it hit 100, she had an obligation to pull me from the match.

I immediately took the thermometer out of my mouth, enraged that I didn't have a warning. Long story short, I protested, I lost, we lost in 4, teammates didn't know what the whole story was, and now we have conflicts within the team as well as with the trainer.

In the end, it's all settled. I'm sure it will be similar to the "WE WERE ON A BREAK!" debate on Friends: Everyone has their different perspective, there is no 100% here's-how-it-happened closure to it, so let's move on and be done with it. At this point in the season (March 25), we're there. However, it was not an overnight process.

After a line-up change which we worked on for 15 minutes, we go to MIT and lose in 4 again. There is hostility among team members, with people frustrated at results with no idea on how to fix it. Luckily, we all know Spring Break was coming around, and playing in California would hopefully rejuvenate us and get us back to where we needed to be.

Although we went 0-4 on the trip, I felt we competed very well against some VERY solid teams. Took a set from Cal Baptist, who recently swept #6 in the nation for Division I Stanford. Line-ups changed every match, and although none of them seemed to be the right fit, we did find a couple diamonds in the rough, with certain players excelling in positions they never played before (Sorry opposing coaches, you'll have to come see us if you want to know exactly what those are).

Our first game back was Emmanuel... and this is the one that had me concerned above all of them afterwards. We were swept. Emmanuel hit .221. They served VERY well, but frankly I thought they played MUCH better in the match we defeated them. However... our side of the net seemed to have no energy, and that goes for all of us, this is not me pointing fingers.

My fear was this: We had been fighting amongst ourselves a bit more than usual recently. I believe people wanted to avoid that, but didn't know how to do it without taking their competitive drive down a notch. When you REALLY want something, and you don't get it, the frustration is bound to be increased from if you're just going through the motions. And frankly, that's what the Emmanuel match felt like... we were just going through the motions. This was the first sign of a potential white flag for the season.

Which woke me up because I've learned this week it's officially my last.

Although an appeal was being conducted in order to get my last year of eligibility left, there hasn't been any progress on it. I'm tired of pointing fingers at who exactly isn't doing the legwork on it (I'd be knocking on the NCAA's door myself if the policy didn't force a member of the college to do it for me), the bottom line is it's not happening. Add in a few financial realizations that have surfaced over the last few weeks, and odds are I'll graduate a semester earlier. It's one thing to play a season knowing it's your last: It's another to find out two to three weeks before it's going to end (or 3 days before Senior Night. It's going to be hard enough without Dave, it's going to be even more depressing without family).

We proceeded to do one more new line-up, and although everyone worked hard to do their best, there were so many flaws exposed in it that there was no way it was going to work out. Still, we had an easier patch of our schedule during it, and managed to pile on a few wins before the big home match against Endicott, where a loss COULD have potentially knocked us out of the NECVA tournament.

Part 3 by the end of the night.

Mental Toughness: Part 1

2009-03-25T14:35:00.001-04:00

I began writing this post last week. I never ended up finishing it, but I think it's important to note. This all was written the night after we defeated Daniel Webster, which was Thursday, March 19. I will do my best to use Part 2 to continue exactly where I left off.

I'll be honest: I could have probably filled 2-3 posts a day with my thoughts on everything. There is so much emotion going on regarding our season that my mind seems to switch tracks by the day, if not more. Therefore, I try my best to stay off of this because I don't want to say something simply to vent.

The irony of all this is on the court, I seem to be able to focus better than ever. For the time we have a match, I'm completely honed in on the task. All the drama is so far away at the time. As soon as the match is over, it hits me like a train, and again I'm unable to quiet the thoughts..

We've lost 10 of our last twelve, both wins coming from Daniel Webster, a first year program. We've tried about 7 different line-ups. The flu, injuries, players, coaches, refs, and a ton of other excuses have been voiced/thought by just about everyone on the team. In the end, we can't seem to get back to where we were just one month ago.

It's very disappointing to be in the situation, but when I'm able to look at it, I can't deny the fact that it's intriguing. How does a team go from starting 16-1 to a 2-10 stretch? I feel like we'd be a sports psychologist's dream, and if we turn it around as I hope, I'll begin writing a book, because I can't even think of a sports team that's had such a strong start, collapsed this hard, then bounced back to win it all.

The scary thing is, I still have complete faith in this team. Everyone has their different theories. Mine is this: We started off the season EXTREMELY confident. When we played at BU back in December, we didn't drop a set. There were times we didn't play our best physically, we were down a couple sets 5-6 points, but in the end we always pulled through, as we never said die.

Fast forward to the regular season, and we still had that swagger. A couple plays swing a different way against Ramapo, and we could have easily have started 17-0. We were aggressive, we had talent at every position, and you could feel teams' nervousness when stepping on the court with us. We were going to come at you, and we weren't letting up.

About the time of the NJCU tournament, a flu bug slowly made its way around the team. We seemed to survive the first few games a bit short-handed, but the timing was unfortunate, as we were about to hit one of the toughest weeks of the season. Tuesday at Harvard, Thursday at Endicott, Saturday at Rivier...

Part 2 will be up shortly...

Spring Break: Halfway Through!

2009-03-11T11:55:00.002-04:00

After waking up to a lovely 8 am alarm clock my roommate accidentally forgot to shut off, I find myself unable to go back to sleep: Meanwhile, the other 3 in the room are comatose. It's not fair how quickly other people can fall back asleep. Oh well.

Anyways, it's Wednesday morning, and we've played two matches. The first was Monday night against Hope. I had the pleasure of going up against their 6-10 opposite, who played well, but didn't move particularly well.

Overall, I thought the team played hard. We lost 3 close games, but the effort we put forth that night probably would have given us wins in 3 or 4 of our previous 6 losses. Still, coach let us have it after the game... and honestly I believe her speech was 3 weeks late. She was right about a lot of things, and I hoped that it would translate into us coming in strong against Cal Baptist, top team in the nation for NAIA.

Cal Baptist was probably the most talented team I've seen since coming to Newbury, even moreso than Lewis last year. They serve INCREDIBLY tough. They have a 6'6 outside hitter from Brazil with near perfect form - you could teach a clinic with his fundamentals. They ran one of the fastest offenses we've played. There is a reason they are the top team in NAIA.

Despite all that, I feel our best effort could give them a run. When we're hot, we play the best volleyball I've ever been a part of. Talent at every position, good energy, all the things necessary to compete at this level.

We took a set from them, and had stints of great play, but ended up losing in four. Overall, I was much more aggravated from this loss than I was about the loss at Hope. It isn't about the end result: It's about the way we got there. We played with more fire/heart against Hope from the first point to the last, and although we chose at moments to bring that same intensity to Cal Bap, it certainly wasn't as consistent as it could have been.

We play Hope again tonight, and I look forward to getting some redemption against them. I read a great article at ESPN ( http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=nolan ) that talks about playing every game as if it was your last. From this point forward, I intend on doing so. We will take this game from Hope.

Off to breakfast.

Hello from Anaheim!

2009-03-09T15:07:00.003-04:00

I'm currently sitting in my hotel room at noon on Monday, day 2 of our Spring Break trip, and am feeling extremely relaxed compared to previous weeks. It's nice to get away from the normal grind for a bit, and this trip could not have come at a better time.

This is my first time to California, and I have always joked that the reason I never visited previously is because I knew I'd never want to leave. To an extent, my theory is somewhat accurate. Why anyone would grow up here and decide they want something else floors me. It's a "cold" day in the 60's, it's clean, there isn't rain. Pure utopia. For grad schools, I'm looking at home mostly, but if I go anywhere else it'd most likely be somewhere here.

We went to Huntington beach yesterday, and it was absolutely gorgeous out. We laid claim to 2 of the nets and played some friendly games of doubles. The wind was definitely in full-force, and it definitely led to conservative play. It was great to get back on the sand, sprawl out for dives without that sharp pain of hard floors, and get some sun to battle the transparency that's taken over my skin this winter. Rumor has it we'll be going to Manhattan beach Thursday. I can't wait, I'll definitely be getting my picture on the pier where they have plates with names of all previous Manhatten Open winners.

As for volleyball, we dropped a tough one to MIT in 4 last week. Although this was our 5th loss in 6 matches, I think we're ready to bounce back from the trainwreck of injuries/illnesses/other factors that led to a brief slump. The right discussions have taken place, we know what we have to do, and everyone is ready to get back to being the team we were before the slip-up.

We play Hope International tonight, and it should be an interesting match. Hope is the 4th ranked NAIA team in the nation, beating defending NAIA national champion Park in the process. They have a MONSTER 6-10 opposite from Brazil, as well as a 6-6 outside from Germany that they go to constantly. There will be a large height difference between the two teams, but I think we will give them a good match regardless. Livestats will be on their website for anyone that wants to follow the action at http://athletics.hiu.edu/volleyball/mens/ , gametime is 7:30 pacific (9:30 central/10:30 eastern). My cousin Mike will be in attendance, and I look forward to catching up with him a bit after our match.

Enough typing for now. Time to grab some food, hit the hot tub, and get ready for the match tonight. Recap later.

Much Needed Break.

2009-03-03T16:23:00.002-05:00

What a rollercoaster of a week. I don't want to dwell too much on the it, but I'll just say this: I finally caught the flu bug everyone else did, and learned the hard way that if a trainer takes your temperature and it's above 100, she will hold you out of the match. Furthermore, she will not warn you of this before doing so. Lesson learned, and next time I'll know exactly where to tell her to put that thermometer!

After watching Elms hand us our first loss at home all season, much reflection was done regarding the first four-game losing streak since my time at Newbury. I haven't played volleyball since last Wednesday, and perhaps that's a good thing. Other than sitting in my bed recovering, I've been reading, cleaning up, doing some homework, calling people back at home, just sort of taking a break, re-charging the batteries. We have a match tonight, and I'm excited to get on the court again, stretch with teammates, get that camaraderie going.

There has been a lot of talk among teammates regarding the last two weeks, and although there has been many different scapegoats for the "downfall", I think what it all will come down to is simple - How bad do we want to win? Yes, we all battled the flu. Yes, my ankle is not 100%. Yes, our chemistry hasn't quite been where it was earlier in the season. We can either dwell on this, or dig our heels in and push even harder, work together, and refuse to let things we can't control affect how we act regarding the things we can.

That being said, I look forward to doing everything I can to be a good teammate the last half the season. Pick teammates up when they're down, chase every ball in sight while on defense, give my all on every point as if it was the last I'd ever get to play.

Daniel Webster at Hellenic tonight. Can't wait!

Rivier Recap in Running Diary Form!

2009-02-22T10:26:00.008-05:00

It's Sunday morning, and my ankle/shoulder are not feeling too good. Luckily I have a day of rest. More importantly, I found the right amount of pain medication to allow me to play at a somewhat acceptable level last night, so the feelings after the game were not at Endicott-levels.

The reason I'm doing a running diary from watching the film (other than the fact that I find them somewhat entertaining when I read someone else's) is that the match was absolute insanity. I can say confidently I've never played in a match with that type of emotion, from both sides of the court, on top of the rowdy fans. I could just throw random memories from last night into a couple paragraphs and leave it at that, but it won't do the match justice. Without further adieu...

Set 1: (Numbers preceding entries will be our score - their score format).

1-0: After Sadowski serves, Josh gets a good touch on the block, I pass it to Tally who sets Josh on the opposite. The ball slams off the block, hits the 25-foot ceiling in the middle of the court, and lands on our side for the point. Rivier's ceiling makes ball control VERY important, as well as staying on your toes chasing down shanks. Still, good start for us.

2-0: Similar play: Sadowski serve, I dig, Josh puts ball down. I do an over-dramatic fist pump to express my satisfaction.

4-3: After a brief run by Riv, we sideout and block a right-side attack by Anderozzi. This is a good start. It seems the games we've lost our block has been noticably below our norm. Seven points in and we've got a couple touches and an actual block. Energy is high and things looking good.

4-4: They set their middle a push, who proceeds to pound the ball through the gap and almost take away Josh's ability to create children. I have jinxed the video with my previous statement.

6-5: Wright puts down another 1 ball for the kill for Riv. He's the Zoolander of middles: Very strong, but he can't swing left. Unfortunately, he's also 6'7 and contacts high, so it's difficult to stop even when you know it's coming.

10-8:After Tally digs a tip by the outside, Josh gets a ball handling error called on him. The crowd lets him have it. This becomes a theme for the next 2 hours.

11-9: Although hitting feels good (4 kills on as many attempts), my jump serve seems to have suffered the most during this week of injuries/fatigue. I launch one out of bounds, with a lack of snap seeming to be the cause. A member of the crowd proceeds to explain to me that it's not legal.

11-10: Max hits a quick that blatantly nicks the defender. Line judge does not call it. This is not a "to each their own" moment. Robberies by line judge: 1. We protest somewhat peacefully, then return to our respective positions.

12-10: Biuso overpasses the next serve, which lands for the kill. The volleyball gods have intervened for the previous call it seems.

16-13: After Beck gets an ace, Riv proceeds to call timeout. They are 5th in the nation, they have talent in every position, but it seems like little vulnerabilities show themselves now and then. Blockers reaching back for tips, taking an out-of-system set and trying to force something... We're certainly not flawless, but there's definitely not that big of a difference between the two teams (then again, there never seems to be).

16-17: Speaking of flaws, we've managed to compile two hitting errors and get aced in about 12 seconds. Timeout Newbury.

23-26: After some sideout ball by both sides, they block a 2-ball attempt by Mark. Although at the collegiate level you rarely see the 2-ball, I can't argue how successful it's been for him this season, being used for most of his 36 kills against Ramapo. Still, it seems early on like Riv's height in the middle will make it a bit more difficult to pull off this match. Timeout Newbury.

25-27: Mark gets a kill on the right side to bring us within 2. The lack of excitement on our side is alarming. Unfortunately, we've recently developed a Jekyll and Hyde type personality on the court, and at the moment we're lacking the sense of urgency necessary to be the better half...

25-28: I take an out-of-system set and place a rollshot on the line. I watch the ball hit the line. The line judge calls it out. Robberies by the line judge: 2. Before I can express my displeasure with the call, Josh jumps up and down, Beck holds his head in disbelief, Mike proceeds to express his feelings in words I can't put up here in case my mother reads, and the bench lets the ref have it. At this point, I have nothing to say that my teammates haven't already expressed.

27-29: After a hard-fought rally, Soucy hits one of of bounds... or so it seems. They call a touch on the block, at which point Josh proceeds to go to his dark place. Watching the film, it's close. Do I see a touch? No. It doesn't help matters when the ref tells our floor captain that she doesn't know who did it, just that it touched the block. Although I can only see so much on camera, I don't see anything that tells me the ball touches the block, from a change in spin/trajectory, to sound, to the actual sight of seeing it hit. Josh still swears he didn't touch it. As I'm afraid he may attempt to rip my face off and eat it if I disagree, I'll go with it. Robberies by the line judge: 3.

27-30: Ace Rivier. We can argue the calls all we want, but shame on us for bringing our frustration into the next plays. People are avoiding high-fives and sulking, and I feel no sorrow for saying that openly. We are a good team, but one of our biggest obstacles is the team getting in its own way due to emotion getting the best of us. The refs sucked, but we still had plenty of hitting errors/shanked passes/blown opportunities that we could have utilized to make it a moot point. On to set 2.

Set 2:

3-5: Austin Soucy tools the block for the kill. Great hitter in that aspect. I can't count how many kills he had, but at least 2/3's of them were slamming it off the block. Very impressive.

3-8: Ace by Riv. We're definitely out of system. Not a good start.

5-8: Solo Block by Josh. Energy picking up a bit.

11-17: Nice back-1 by Opposite/slide by middle puts Rivier up by six... bleeding needs to be stopped.

12-18: Timeout Newbury. Dwelling on mistakes, not meeting in the middle, struggling to play our game.

16-19: Showing signs of life, playing good defense.

16-20: approximately our 29356th net violation of the match.

16-21: Josh hits a ball that appears to hit the blocker's arm and go out of bounds. The ref calls no touch. At this point, Josh begins a 40-second tangent that will stay with me til the day I can't tell volleyball stories anymore. How he didn't get a yellow/red card I'll never know. Funniest part was when we try to meet in the middle and yell to Josh to join us, who is explaining his interpretation of physics to Jaime. He turns around and yells "I'M ALLOWED, TO TALK, TO MY COACH (commas dictate an inhale of breath for the next two words)... although it wasn't a time-out and the refs seemed to give us this time so he could get his steam out. Never seen anything like it. I looked at Beck, who lives in the triple with Josh and I, and my exact words were "I don't want to sleep in the same room as him tonight". Another effect of this situation is we've appeared to awaken the crowd, who will proceed to heckle us non-stop from this point on.

16-22: Ace Rivier. Anyone else see a pattern? Goddammit.

17-25: (insert cliche about how we're beginning to lose it here). Timeout Newbury.

24-30: Traded points back and forth, but the damage had been done. Ferreira blasts a cross court shot to finish the game. Still are shooting ourselves in the foot, as well as Rivier is playing we certainly aren't making them earn it.

Set 3:

2-0: Refs miss a ball CLEARLY hit the ground, Mike "digs" it with his leg and Tally puts it over for the kill. After 3 matches with this up-ref, I have decided I respectfully disagree with a lot of her calls (and the only reason it isn't disrespectful is in the .0001% chance she ever reads that sentence).

3-1: I cheat up on my coverage, and the ball ricochets off the defender to the back of the court for Riv's first point. I'm beginning to think video is harmful to my self-esteem.

4-2: I redeem myself with a half-way decent pass, at which point Josh puts it down. Crowd starts getting into this set, and when Wright destroys the next ball they are roaring. This is going to be a fun set...

5-3: Josh misses a serve, crowd lets him have it. The camera is across the court from their student section and it's still clear as day.

6-3: Josh with a good pass, Tally with a good set, Mark tools a triple-block. We retaliate with some yelling of our own. Our confidence seems to be re-appearing.

12-6: Tally serves his fourth ace of the match, and Riv calls a timeout. We're finally beginning to put it all together.

13-8: Second service error of the match by me. Not sure where my arm strength went but I really miss it.

16-14: Block by Riv brings them within 2. Rallies are getting longer and both teams are starting to be more aggressive.

18-17: My passing's starting to get a bit shaky. It's been pretty consistent all match, do-or-die time would not be a good time to change that.

19-20: Riv gets first lead of the set. People seem pissed off, but the good news is it seems to be in the right manner. We're communicating still and directing it towards doing our job rather than dwelling on what we can't control.

20-20: Tally gives me an incredible one-handed backset, game to ten now.

21-21: The first blatant ankle-buckling occurs on a dig attempt, which proves to be a great set for their middle who puts a crater in the floor to show his appreciation. Not now please.

23-22: Josh absolutely destroys a right-side attack to give us the lead. Both sides are pushing back and forth, with no real momentum advantage on either side.

26-24: I proceed to destroy a line-shot... about a foot out of bounds. Luckily, the block got excited and hit the net. I pretend like it's no big deal but in my head I realize the bullet I just dodged.

26-25: Another missed touch. Unbelievable. We're clearly not happy with it, but we seem to realize how it's useless to waste energy arguing it, so back to our positions we go.

26-26: Timeout Newbury after Hansen pushes it to the back left corner on 2. Everyone seems focused at the task at hand though, and the whole time I know we're going to 4.

27-26: Tally goes back to serve, at which point the crowd begins a "You're not Hansen" chant, implying that their setter is better than ours. Not very clever, but I suppose a bit more tasteful than at Harvard when 2 fans notified me that apparently I have a pregnant girlfriend thanks to their services.

30-26: Tally proceeds to respond to their chant by setting off a 4-0 run, capped off by a solo block by Josh (No opposite in D-3 can finish a game with a block like him. If that was a stat, he'd lead the nation). Set 4's coming up, and we're on the side with the students. Looking forward to it, as they drown out the voices in my head that usually bother me.

Set 4:

5-5: I hit a line-shot to tie it up. Why my arm seems fine in the front row but I can't serve very well is beyond me.

10-9: Second ankle-buckle of the match, this time on a ball switching directions due to the ceiling. I look like the anti-gazelle shanking it and taking a tumble in the process.

12-9: Mark absolutely houses Wright. Huge block.

12-14: They counter it with 5 straight points, the last 3 coming from blocks. Timeout Newbury.

13-14: About 5 plays back, Josh tweaked his calf. In the timeout, he taped it up a bit. The crowd now peppers him with "Suck it up!" chants for the remainder of the game.

16-17: Rivier not happy about a non-call on Mark contacting the ball before it crossed the plane. Like we haven't been getting robbed all day.

18-20: Mis-communication in the backrow lets a tip drop. Crucial point for Riv.

22-23: The crowd starts peppering one of our bigger players, chanting "Love Handles". Our AD would never let this happen. My complaint here is not with the crowd.

24-24: HUGE rally gives us a tie game. Was almost a minute long. Ends with a net violation by Riv. Brutal.

24-27: Speaking of brutal, an awful hitting decision by me caps a 3-0 run by Rivier.

25-27: Tally wins a joust for a crucial sideout.

26-27: Solo block by Mark!

26-29: I get blocked attempting a swipe.

28-29: One missed serve/block later, and we're one point away from making it a game to two!

29-29: Hitting error by the opp!

29-30: Kill by Ferreria gives them their second match point

30-30: Another joust by Tally ties it up.

30-31: I over-run the set a bit, and the rollshot I hit grazes the antenna. Not pleased. 3rd match point for Riv.

31-31: Josh gets blocked on the outside, but Mike gets a huge cover and I go over the outside and JUST around the middle to tie it up. Feeling a bit better about the previous play.

31-32: long volley ends with a kill from Soucy. 4th match point for Riv.

31-33: Another decent volley ends with Josh's hit grazing the antenna.

It was a hard loss, but a much better showing than the previous two matches. A lot of us are coming off sickness/injuries, and we just picked a tough week in the schedule to do it. Morale is still good, and with 4 days before our next match, I expect to bounce back from all of this starting with Elms Thursday. Although it was a loss, the excitement of the match was about as good as it gets at this level. I wish all matches had a crowd like that... but unfortunately it's not how it goes.

Anyways, off to do some homework. I'll update in the next few days probably.

Rivier.

2009-02-21T14:23:00.002-05:00

Lately, I've been reading a book called "Can I Keep My Jersey", written by Paul Shirley, a NBA Journeyman that has played in various countries, flirting with the NBA here and there, writing a journal as he does it. It is one of the best books I have ever read, but in doing so I've realized one of the reasons I wonder if this blog will ever be everything I want it to be.

The details he releases are extremely personal, which has both positive and negative effects. The positive effect is we truly get an inside look on his life, from events on the court to the politics that run off of it. The negatives, and part of the reason I feel I can't do the same thing, is that it shows a vulnerability in some forms, as well as certain things that I'm sure his teammates/coaches woudln't appreciate (as he never stayed in one place too long, I suppose that was never a worry of his).

This is not to say that I have dirt on teammates/coaching staff that I'm just DYING to release, but feel wrong in doing so. However, the thought of giving any opponent any sort of edge has made me very hesitant to put specific details that if I was on the other side reading, would help me in any shape or form when writing up the scouting report on my team.

However, certain details of this past week should be noted.

After a 14-game win streak and 16-1 total record, we dropped 2 matches in a row, one to Harvard in 5, the other in a sweep to Endicott (and boy did they hand our asses to us. No other way to say that).

A couple things that should be noted. In the past few weeks, we have experienced EIGHT players battling the flu, as well as various injuries here and there. It was a matter of time before we had an off night, and Harvard turned out to be that night. After coming out flat the first two sets, we bounced back in sets 3 and 4, only to have their middle (athletic, 6'9, plays all the way around) Brady catch absolute fire and lead them to a 15-12 victory.

Although it was disappointing, everyone shook it off and had a good practice Wednesday. It was very competitive, and the energy was strong. Unfortunately, with about 15 minutes to go, a tight ball led to one of the teammates accidentally going under and I proceeded to land on him, somewhat horrified at how far I felt my ankle roll.

Being stubborn, I tied my shoe as tightly as possible and asked coach to continue the drill before my adrenaline wore off and I had any chance to think about what may have just happened. Things went well, and afterwards we couldn't find any swelling, so I had hoped that I was just lucky.

The next morning, the side of my leg was stiff, a bit higher up than the actual ankle joint. Pain I can deal with, but my concern was with the actual strength of the joint. We arrived at Endicott early, I stretched as much as I could, took some ib profun, and hit the court.

Endicott proceeded to destroy us, while I played arguably the worst game of my collegiate career.

The funny thing about playing the "worst" game of your career is you're not quite sure how to react. I was pretty much a zombie for the next 1/2 hour, with my mind going a mile a minute, thoughts about the past, the short-term effects, even how I'd react long-term. The aggravating aspect of the performance was my ankle's decision to buckle during my last step of my approach, making me re-adjust my body for a split second which killed all my momentum built up by the previous steps. While I usually see the set, then the block, then back to the ball, I was putting so much effort into making sure I was under the ball that I didn't have the court vision I normally have. Call it the "anti-zone" if you will.

I began texting coaches/friends back at home whom I usually go to for advice, and lo and behold, I get this gem from Mike Landa, a man I've met a total of 2 times at an open gym that's near my house:

"That just gives you more ambition for your next match. Be the leader that your team knows. Everyone has bad days... it's how' you bounce back from them to show your strength"

Sometimes I wonder why I'll randomly make friends with a stranger at an open gym, but moments like that seem to justify it.

With the sexual assault at the school (and that'll be discussed in a later post), the two losses, and issues with my shoulder/ankle, there's been a lot weighing my mind down the last week. Add that to the fact that my sleep has been awful as I keep waking up with either my arm or ankle flaring up, and I've been a bit on edge.

Luckily, I slept DEEP last night, similar to the night before the Elms match (where I had one of my best games of the season). I woke up with a sense of confidence about today like I felt the day of Vassar, although I'm not sure where it came from. I'm certainly not upset about it. I went to the trainer at noon at got some extra work done on my ankle, and feel that it will do just fine for this match. Rivier is a very talented team, but they certainly aren't flawless, and I still feel we're built to accel against a team of their make-up.

I can't say for sure what's going to happen, but this I know for sure: Both teams will be fired up. Their crowd will be ferocious, as they've been advertising this match for almost a match. Although we aren't in the same conference anymore, pride is on the line, and neither team is going to want to swallow theirs.

I look forward to doing some damage. Bus leaves in 7 minutes. If we get back early enough I'll update tonight.

One of Those Nights as Well...

2009-02-18T00:26:00.002-05:00

Quick sidenote to the previous post: With everything that happened today, I managed to keep a positive attitude up until about 2 pm. When life continually knocks me down in the span of one day, usually something pushes me over the edge.

That happened when I received a Valentine's Day card from my grandparents (adorable, I know). Given the type of day I was having, this actually was a nice change of pace... Until I opened it, and saw that my grandma (the one NOT battling dementia mind you) spelled my name Brian. It was at that moment I died a little inside.

After sulking for the next hour or so, I decided to suck it up and begin focusing on the Harvard match. I was feeling pretty good going into the match, and felt like we would make a big statement if we took care of business.

Game 1 does NOT start well. Serve receive is a train wreck (myself included, aced 2 times in the match, both in the first set). Proceeded to get housed 3 times, attempting to swipe off hands in an unsuccessful manner. We proceed to lose 30-28. Second set we come out flat, they end up putting a pounding on us 30-23.

I can tolerate losing to the better team, and Harvard is a decent squad. However, we were playing WAY below our normal ability. Luckily, we snap out of it for sets 3 and 4 and win convincingly. Serve received started communicating more, our offense starts clicking, we're picking up more digs.

Unfortunately... set 5 starts a bit rough. Their middle is 6'9 and plays all the way around, and he catches fire. We go down 8-5 on the switch, and can't seem to chip away at their lead. Looking defeat in the eye at 14-10, we string together a few points to make it interesting, but a missed serve by Tally gives Harvard the 15-12 win as well as the match (I feel awful for Matt. Knowing the competitor he is, he'll dwell on that missed serve, but he was by far our most consistent player all night, as well as our best server, and if it wasn't for him we wouldn't have made it that far. Keep your head up bud).

The frustrating thing is, I don't feel like it was a matter of us being lazy or complacent, we simply didn't have our best stuff at the beginning, and although we picked it up towards the middle of the match, we finally met a team that took advantage of an opportunity when we gave it to them. It hurts to lose a match like that, but I have to keep telling myself that in the big picture, it has no effect on the goal at hand. Thursday's match at Endicott and Saturday's match at Rivier are much more important, and perhaps this is what we needed to toughen the skin so we're ready for those matches.

That's pretty much all I have to say about that. Today has been rough, but tomorrow's a new day. Time for bed.

One of Those Days...

2009-02-17T16:20:00.003-05:00

I usually don't use this journal as a venting tool, but I feel that current thoughts could serve a purpose as it has to do with politics/frustrations of being a Division III athlete.

Not to get into detail, but we were called into the Athletic Director's office to get an exact number of money remaining for our fundraising efforts for the California trip. I had spent more time in this office than I had wanted to in December trying to save our trip. At the time, I was told that if everyone stayed on target from that point on in our raffle tickets, the trip would be good to go.

Long story short, this year we find out we have until Monday (6 days from now) to turn in the FULL year's fundraising amount of 1200 dollars. I will take responsibility in the fact that our contract had listed January 30th as the date that it was going to be due. On the other hand, it bothers me that it was never pointed out to us, and almost feel like it was a case of smoke & mirrors, as a) when the contract came about, we were pretty much focusing on the raffle portion, b) Jan. 30th came and went with no issues, nor was there a new date for it to be due, c) Previous years had given us the entire semester to do fundraising for it, d) why was there not more advance notice? Many of us are hundreds of dollars short. Had we known the date it was due, it probably would have changed the pace at which we were going. I know personally it would have changed mine.

Yesterday, I ran two suicides in practice for being late due to a miscommunication with a teammate, who said to a few of us that the leaving time for practice had changed when it indeed had not. No argument was made. Suicides were ran, practice went back to normal. After practice, I briefly talked with the coach, discussing the word-of-mouth error, and it was agreed that things need to be more concrete (e-mail was specifically mentioned).

Fast forward less than 24 hours, and I learn less than an hour before we're to head to Harvard that the time has changed. Word of mouth. From a player.

I don't ask for much, but it seems that the theme for the day (there are actually a few other things, but I figured whining about 2 sufficed for this post) is poor communication where in the end I'm being affected by it, which is a pet peeve. I suppose the lesson learned is to depend on others as little as possible and be thorough double checking situations. The joys of Division III.

Getting that off my chest, big match versus Harvard today! Did a little scouting report, and it looks as if they rely on 4 hitters, with that second middle position registering a total of 29 attempts in their 6(could be off one or two) matches. BIG senior middle, freshman 6'6 banger from Serbia that's mistake-prone, and 2 other outsides who get a decent amount of sets. Defense looks iffy. Definitely need to come to play tonight, but I'm confident. Time will tell.

Recap later tonight.

Recap of the Last Week, as well as Other Thoughts.

2009-02-16T11:50:00.003-05:00

It's been awhile since I've written, just haven't had the energy to do so. I'll try to recap the majority of events.

Thursday we played Emerson, which we swept, although it wasn't pretty on our side of the net. I know I personally need to work on coming with the same intensity every match, because I struggle to play with the same fire against weaker teams that I get against the stronger ones.

Coach addressed the team as a whole on this the next day, and pretty much introduced the elephant in the room, as I don't think anyone was shocked by the concept that we weren't exactly burying certain teams the way we should. It seems like it was what we needed to hear, because we proceeded to have one of the best practices we've had all season.

The next morning (Saturday) we leave at 5:30 AM to head to Vermont for a tri-match vs. Southern Vermont and Lesley. Both teams were winless so far this season, but they were important matches to us for various reasons. First, they were conference games, and these are big no matter who is on the other side of the court. Also, it was going to be interesting to see whether we'd do what we did against Emerson, or come out of the gates playing up to our potential.

Which is exactly what we did. All 6 games were strong on our side of the net, and everyone got a little playing time. On a more interesting note to me personally, Tim Cole is the new Head Coach at Southern Vermont. Tim played for Juniata during 3 of their National Championships, and spent 2 years overseas, one in Germany and the other in Holland. After our match, I introduced myself and we talked a bit, seems like a really nice person, even told me to e-mail him if I had any questions on how to start my process of going overseas. Glad to have met him. More on thoughts that followed this later.

Sunday I ended up going with a teammate to watch the Endicott tournament, and it was definitely worth it! Talk about chaos, Emmanuel proceeds to lose to NJCU, then sweep Hunter and beat Baruch in 4. Endicott goes up 2 sets to 1 on Ramapo then loses in 5 (I swear, Ramapo loves playing that 5th game). Also, watching Rivier was nice before our huge match-up on Saturday. I'm doing my best to focus on the Harvard match tomorrow, but Rivier pops in my head every now and then. I'm glad I was able to see a preview of both Endicott/Rivier before our matches, I feel a bit more prepared, and am confident as long as we play as well as we have that we'll be 19-1 at the end of the week!

Back to overseas: I've been really struggling lately in the department of knowing what I want. The good news is, I've got plenty of options, and all of them appeal to me. The problem is I can't quite put my finger on which one wants to go first. The main concern is the ability to pay off my school loans. That being said, the Grad Assistant option (hopping on at a college as a volunteer assistant coach, in exchange for tuition being paid while I get my Master's, get a second job, chip away at my loans while deferring them an additional 2 years), seems to be the safest choice.

However...

If you hadn't figured it out by the title of this blog, I want to play volleyball professionally overseas. Really badly. Although it most likely won't be as fruitful financially right off the bat, I DO feel it would help me long term. Reasons being: The overall once-in-a-lifetime experience. The extra chapter it would add to my story as I'd like to be a motivational speaker (specifically to schools). As I want to give volleyball clinics, it would establish more credibility, and most likely allow me to command a higher hourly rate (or at least look more appealing to the potential client). It would also be nice to add to the resume when looking for coaching jobs. I can go back to school for my Masters, but as Tim told me Saturday, "your skills only get worse once you graduate", which makes me feel like this is a one-shot opportunity.

In general, this is how my mind works. The funny thing is, when I'm on the court, I'm completely focused at the tasks at hand. Nothing else clouds my mind. My success has mostly been derived from the ability to go one play at a time, no matter what has happened, and if there's a change it most likely is for the better (usually a player saying something under the net that fires me up and sharpens my focus even more somehow). Once I step off that court, I can't shut my mind down. I over-analyze, break down gamefilm, and find myself struggling to sleep because my brain won't shut up. It's a blessing that all of my little quirks disappear on the court, because otherwise I would most likely be better off as a waterboy than an actual participant.

Anyways, enough ranting for now. I need to shower and get ready for the first RA interview, as my financial situation has caused me to attempt to sign up for it next year. Although I was pessimistic at the idea at first, I find myself kind of excited, as it'll provide a good experience that hopefully will teach me a lot.

Practice from 7-9, then the big game versus Harvard tomorrow!

Bubonic Plague? Also, My First Collegiate Match as a Setter.

2009-02-10T15:56:00.004-05:00

I write this blog thankful for my health. I had been feeling under the weather the week before, but NOTHING compared to what half my teammates have been going through the last couple days. I won't even go into details about it, but it pretty much shuts the people afflicted with it down for a good 2-3 days. Some sort of flu I suppose, although after hearing about 2 lab rats that disappeared which they injected with Bubonic Plague, I have my suspicions! Ok... maybe it's not the plague, but I've been nervous about getting sick, especially with both my roommates apparently having the worst of it.

So last night we had a match against New Haven, who seems to be having a transition year, although as a Division II team you can never take them for granted. Although we only were one player short on Saturday's tournament due to the sickness, there were FOUR players experiencing the effects of it yesterday.. including both setters.

The starting setter can't even come to the game it's so bad. The second-stringer plays the first game, but as he was up all night and unable to eat much during the day, you can tell he's drained. We put up a good fight, but they end up taking the first set 30-28.

With the setter pretty much out of steam, I get thrown into setting, which I enjoy doing at practice, but the stakes were a bit higher this time around. Still, I had all four starting hitters around me, as well as scrappy defense. I huddled the guys up, asked them to be patient, keep the intensity up, communicate to let me know what adjustments they want on the ball and we'd take it from there.

Luckily for me, my job was easy, as everyone played GREAT. Serve receive was practically flawless. The hitters were bombing, and even when the set wasn't there, they made a smart shot and let the defense do their thing. The block was huge, and the backrow was scrappy. Add some aggressive serving to that, and we cruised through the next 3 sets, winning 30-23, 30-20, 30-16. Congrats to Mark Thomas, 4th guy in school history with 1,000 kills! He hit for a ridiculous 24-1-34 hitting line, I would throw the ball anywhere in his vicinity and he'd put it down.

I had 8 kills, 10 digs, 29 assists, 3 aces, and 2 blocks to finish the night. Still looking for my first career triple-double, and bummed that I was only 2 kills away, but we got the win and so I can't complain. That being said, I hope the team is never desperate enough to need me to set again :).

Coach gave us the day off so the sick people can get better, and I'll be using it to catch up on all my work. This has been the most difficult semester by far, and it's going to take a LOT of work, but if I get through this, the last year should be a great one.

We've got three pretty easy matches coming up, then the real tests of the month: Harvard, Endicott, Rivier, and Elms. Endicott will basically be the NECVA New England regular season championship, and Rivier will be a HUGE statement match. We're 13-1, ranked 7th in the nation. They're 11-1, ranked 6th in the nation. We've gone 4-2 against them the last 2 years, with 3 of those matches being decided by 5 games. I love the rivalry, and look forward to getting the first win at their gym in Newbury history!

Anyways, time for dinner. Feeling energetic, slept a DEEP 9 hours last night, best night of sleep I've had at Newbury! Probably will turn into another post tonight.

Playing to our Potential, 3-Peat, and the Road Ahead.

2009-02-08T13:30:00.004-05:00

We're off today, and I know it's a much-needed day of rest, especially with Division II Rival New Haven coming to town tomorrow. We've played them the last two years at their gym, losing a 5-set heartbreaker my freshman year, then getting revenge in a 4-set win last year. I'm looking forward to taking the rubbermatch from them!

We played in the Gothic Knights' Tournament this year, which is hosted by New Jersey City University. We've won the past two years, and were excited for the chance to make it a three-peat. A rough start to the tournament as our other starting outside was sick as a dog, and ended up sleeping on the bleachers all tournament. Still, we had plenty of players ready to rise to the occasion, and played what I felt was some of our best ball since I've been at the school.
This was almost a relief, as Thursday we swept Wentworth, but did so in a very ugly manner. There was no energy on the court, the people on the sidelines weren't clapping or celebrating, and to be blunt, it was a boring match to watch because we certainly didn't do anything special. I felt like we needed a spark, and for whatever reason we ended up finding it at the tournament.

Our first match was against SUNY-IT, who was still looking for their first win of the season. The second-string hit the floor, and really did a good job! Defense was strong, hitters put the ball away, and the energy was great. We won 30-22 30-22 30-11. Next up: SUNY New Paltz.

SUNY New Paltz is an interesting team. I didn't remember much about them because last year when we played them in a tri-match at Elms I ended up getting sick and passed out on the bleachers (perhaps we're allergic to them). I knew from their wins over MIT/Emmanuel that they were no joke this season, and figured the winner of this match would win the tournament.

They have a 6'4 senior middle that plays all the way around, a decent 6'8 freshman middle, a couple bigger hitters at the pins, and a somewhat versatile offense. However, their setter is 5'5, so that provided for some BIG mismatches on the outside. I felt our defense was stronger as well, and that our 4th/5th hitting options were stronger than theirs.

We come out hot the first game, serving aggressively, blocking well, making them force shots and hit error after error. We out-hit them .364 to .094, and cruised to a 30-19 win. Game 2 is a bit different, with both teams trading points back and forth. New Paltz is starting to run more combo plays, and catching more solo blocks, even getting a no-block or two in the process. Still, good teams find a way to win even when it's ugly, and despite them outhitting us .314 to .171 we squeaked out a 30-28 win. Game 3 we start playing much scrappier defense, picking up a lot of strong hits by them. They're playing well but we refuse to give them any ground, and although we failed to finish on the first few match points we had, we end up winning 30-25 to take the sweep.

This puts us in the finals, and although we've played NJCU the last two years, Stevenson (formerly Villa Julie) beats them in 4 to earn a trip to the finals against us. They have a couple strong hitters, but with a smaller setter and suspect defense, I felt that as long as we played our game we'd have no problem. And sure enough, it was one of the best all-around matches we've played. We didn't get aced once. We had no hitting errors the third game, and hit .402 for the match. Six of our players had 5 kills or more. We blocked well, and our serve receive was about as good as it gets. We ended up winning 30-18, 30-25, 30-11, to take home our third championship in a row!

I honestly thought everyone pulled their weight and then some. Everyone had brought something to the table, and when we're able to get production from everyone, I don't think there's a team we can't beat in Division III. It'll be nice to have Beck back tomorrow hopefully, but it's good to know that when he's not around there are plenty of people able to fill that void.

Individually, I've been on a decent stretch. I'm taking less swings, but my production is about the same. In the last six matches, I've hit 76-20-154 (.364), 13 aces, 61 digs, and 8 blocks (through 19 sets). Because of the lower amount of sets, I feel like all my other numbers are much better, as I'm not nearly as tired towards the end of matches. I'm hoping to only continue getting better, as I don't feel like I'm doing anything incredibly special, just playing consistent all-around volleyball. With any luck this is only the beginning!

I need to do homework, but I have other thoughts I'll try to post later. We're 12-1, with a big 2 weeks ahead of us, starting with New Haven tomorrow, as well as matches versus Harvard/Elms/Emmanuel/Rivier. Looking forward to it!

Talented to a Fault.

2009-02-05T14:31:00.002-05:00

Ugh. Something's been going around campus, and I believe it's finally caught up to me. I find myself tired all the time... even though I'm going to bed earlier and waking up later. Trying to Emergen-C it away, but so far no luck.

On a positive note, we beat MIT for the first time in four years Tuesday, and I had a decent box score of 18 kills on .304 hitting, 13 digs, 4 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 aces. The last two games were brutal, I believe the scores were 30-18 30-20. However, we gave them the first game of the match, so it took us four sets to put them away.

We're 8-1 on the season, losing a nailbiter 15-13 in the fifth to Ramapo early on in the season that could have gone either way. Other than that, we've been pretty convincing in our wins. When things click, this team has something special going for it. However...

It seems like lately we've been turning it on and off at will. I don't believe that it's intentional, but I do feel like our focus going into games is a bit shaky. Our warmups look sloppy, and our killer instinct is a far cry from our energy at BU. We played some AWFUL teams then, but never used that as an excuse to play down.

The scary thing is, we always seem to turn it around and punish the teams... to the point where I can't even pinpoint how we drop games to these teams. I think the big difference is how we treat each other on the court. Last year, we were clique-ish, and when someone made a mistake, certain people would get aggravated with them. With this team? Everyone works hard for the most part. Everyone gets along. When someone makes a mistake, everyone tries to pick them up. No grudges are held overall. But when we come out flat, we seem to get more frustrated with ourselves individually, which affects our energy on the court. Once we get the energy back though... it's unbelievable how well we play sometimes. I feel like if we consistently brought that to the table, we'd be a front-runner for the National Championship.

Eventually, a team is going to make us pay if we come out flat, continually pushing us back and not relinquishing their leads. How do you keep everyone up from the first point to the last? We still haven't quite figured it out. I hope we do it on our own rather than learning the hard way, with some tough matches coming up in the next few weeks with New Haven, New Paltz, Harvard, Rivier, Elms, and Endicott.

The sky's the limit, but we need to continually push forward. I'm a bit concerned short-term with how we come out of the gate, but things WILL pick up. Individually, I've had a nice 3-match stretch, compiling 53 kills, 33 digs, 8 aces, and 6 blocks in 11 games. I feel like I've been cutting down on my errors, simply making smarter decisions, and not forcing shots when the set isn't there. Amazing what happens when you play smart, who would have thought?

Anyways, going to take a power nap, head to dinner, and then we're off to Wentworth. They've taken a game from MIT, and they have an outside putting up monster numbers, so we can't take them lightly. However, if we play our game we should be 9-1 heading into our tournament this weekend. Time will tell. Wish us luck!

Hitting my Stride, and a Wonderful Birthday Weekend.

2009-02-02T23:17:00.005-05:00

It's been awhile since my last post, but there's been so many things going on this weekend that I haven't had a chance to put all my thoughts on here.

After a couple practices Thursday/Friday, we had the big game at Elms on Saturday. This game was FULL of meaning. First off, Elms is in the NECC/NECVA New England. The NECC is a first-year conference, and we're really the only two strong teams in it, so this match was essentially the regular-season championship. On top of that, with Endicott/MIT/Elms all in NECVA New England, we can't afford to drop any games to them. The seeding for the NECVA tournament is very important, especially with the conference being pretty top-heavy this season. With the addition of Saquiel (Former member on Puerto Rican National Team), they looked to be a force. He made his debut with the team a couple days before as they played #1-in-the-nation Springfield, and although they were swept, the first two games were 33-31 and 39-37. This was not going to be easy.

My birthday was Sunday, and I had asked my dad to come visit as I'd been a bit more homesick than normal this year. He had seen me play 2 other matches, but both were against D-I/II competition, and I figured it'd be nice to show him how I can play at my own level. It'd be nice to have him see a win before I graduate! :)

On top of that, Dave was going to have a memorial service before/after the game. Tomorrow will be 6 months since he passed. It still is something I'm coping with, and I was a bit nervous to see how I would react to all of that.

The ceremony was absolutely phenomenal. Kudos to the Elms staff, they did a fantastic job. So many memories flooded my mind in such a short period of time. Pulling in the BK Parking lot and seeing him get off the train. The dinner where we first discussed the team. Picking me up from the airport for my visit. A couple fights on the court, and a couple silent nods of approval from others. Talks in the basement, including our last one. So many things... but although I still miss him a lot, I was filled with happiness to have known him as well as I did.

The game starts. Sideouts on both sides keeps the game close. Elms surprisingly starts by establishing the middle, which is the weakest position they have on the floor. Tally (setter) does a great job utilizing every mis-match on every play, and we basically dare the team to stop us as all 5 of our hitters are able to do damage. We start to pull away, and end up on top 30-22.

The second game is much of the same, and although we had a comfortable lead at one point, we let them back into the game. I go back to serve at 28-28, and jump serve an ace down the line at 29-28. Getting a bit excited, I proceed to launch the next one to the backwall (oops) which proves to be costly as we lost 30-32.

Game 3 we come out hot, taking a 19-12 lead. As usual, we start to let the other team back in the game, making it close again, and I started to get that feeling I had at the BU tournament, where every play looks like its in slow motion. With some great passing, draws by Max (who had a career day as far as I'm concerned), and picture-perfect sets by Tally, I put down 29 and 30 for a 30-27 win.

Game 4 starts and we're trading points back and forth. We finally break off to a 21-16 lead, but serve receive (specifically me) melts, and we give up a 6-0 run to give them a 22-21 lead. We quickly snapped out of it, and ended up finishing the game 30-26, giving us the match!

We hit .349 as a team, compared to Elms' .220. They had good serve receive and a tough attack, but when all 5 of your primary hitters hit over .350, it's gonna take a lot to lose the match. They are still getting the kinks out of their system, and when they come to our gym on Feb. 26, I expect that it won't be as easy.

Individually, I had my second strong game in a row. Other than my little serve receive drought at the end of the match, my passing was decent, and I finished with 20 kills, 11 digs, 4 assists, 2 block assists, and an ace. I'm starting to see the court better, as well as make good decisions instead of blasting away on every point. My jump serve is finally coming around, and I hope to continue using it to keep teams on their heels in matches to come.

The next day was my birthday, and my dad's 8:55 AM call wasn't exactly a present I was looking for! However, his time in town was limited, so I wasn't mad about it. We went down to Quincy Market/Newbury street and just shot the breeze as we went into random shops looking around. A brief nap afterwards, then back to the hotel with a couple friends to meet him at their restaurant to watch the Super Bowl. Lots of laughs, good food, and a great game... low-key while still a lot of fun. I'm not big on celebrating my birthday, but it was definitely one of the best ones I've had!

Dad flew back today after we had lunch. It was really good seeing him, and a quick reminder on why I could never go a summer without heading back to Chicago. I'm enjoying the season, but it's always nice in May to head back home and be around friends and family there. It was a good break from the normal grind!

However, we were back to work at practice today, and tomorrow we play MIT at home. BIG GAME. They seem to be in a transition year, but we've never beaten them (they were the only D-III team to beat us at home last season). I look forward to redemption!

Getting late, off to bed. Update after the match.

Snow Day!

2009-01-28T22:26:00.004-05:00

Mother nature was definitely smiling down on me today, because a much-needed snow day cancelled classes! I was exhausted after a 30-24, 30-17, 30-20 thrashing of Lasell College last night.

I finally broke out of my hitting slump, hitting for a 15-2-24 (.524) clip. I think the biggest obstacle I've been battling has been my sleep. For about 2 weeks, I found myself waking up every hour, tossing and turning, and feeling exhausted for the rest of the day. Monday morning I woke up after a DEEP sleep, and felt the difference immediately. Had probably the most crisp practice I've had all season, then after another deep sleep I went into the match yesterday feeling great. Hopefully I can continue to get my Z's!

Back to the match: Lasell is normally a middle-tier team, but I had watched them in pre-season a bit as I coach the women's team, and felt that they were going to be the best squad the school's produced since I've been around. After they started 2-0 with an "upset" win over MIT, I found myself very focused on not taking them too lightly. Add that to the fact that the girls' team I coached would be watching, and it was an exciting environment to play in!

Unfortunately, some off-the-court issues forced their starting setter to sit, which I found disappointing as I was VERY impressed with his play the few times I saw him. On top of that, our serving came out on FIRE, with 13 aces as a team. Personally, I found my jump serve, ripping 5 aces of my own, running off 11 points in a row in the second game. Lately, I've been pretty conservative with serving, but once I started getting a higher toss, my consistency has improved and I think I should be good to go for the rest of the season. Even when we weren't getting aces, we were keeping them completely out of system, and that being the case, took advantage of a lot of downball/freeball opportunities.

I felt that this was a good match for the team as a whole. Our energy was strong virtually the entire match. Everyone was diving and playing scrappy defense. It would have been easy to let up a little bit, but we finally seemed to have that never-say-die mentality, no matter how deflated the other team got, or how far we pulled away on the scoreboard. I hope we continue to play like that the rest of the season, because if we do that, I honestly think there's no reason we can't win the rest of our matches.

Watching film, it seemed like I was swinging with more of a purpose. I was reading the block much better, and although I wasn't swinging as hard, I was hitting my spots, pretty much only mis-hitting one ball. Hopefully I'm able to continue doing that!

Anyways, we have practice tomorrow/Friday, and then the big game at Elms. They're doing the memorial for Coach Dave that day... I'm not sure how I feel about that. Lots of emotions flying around that day, that's for sure. It's been almost 6 months, and it still feels as if it was just yesterday that everything went down... It should be an interesting match. I hear Elms' big hitter just got cleared to play, so it should be a tough one!

Time to go to bed, I have a feeling class isn't getting cancelled tomorrow.

Division III Analysis: Take 1!

2009-01-25T22:56:00.003-05:00

With the day off and not too much going on in the dorm, it's time to spend way too much time reviewing the first two weeks of season! Without further adieu...

FIRST TIER: THE FRONT-RUNNERS.

(Two weeks into the season, these are the three teams I feel stand out above the rest.)

SPRINGFIELD COLLEGE:

Recent sweep of MIT/5-game victory at Vassar shows they're still the team to beat. Virtually all the tools return from last season. Strong setter in Shoemaker, Big middles in Palumbo/Sipe, Ribeiro/Nally on the outside and Fredrickson on the Opp, as well as a strong Libero... There are not many weaknesses to exploit on this team. I expect them to drop a match or two during the season as it's difficult to go undefeated, but they certainly have earned the right to be named the team to beat this season, as they go for back-to-back championships.

UC-SANTA CRUZ:

Owners of arguably the toughest schedule in Division III, this west-coast team will always be in the picture when discussing who could win it all. Although they lose 2008 National POY Brian Shires, All-American Austin Einhorn (he was a sophomore last year, now he's not on the roster... anyone have any information on this?), and Brice Dahlmeier to transferring to Cal, they return All-American Brad Sullivan, and seem to have two strong hitters in Max McDaniel in the middle and Justin Lam at the pin (outside I believe - he had 28 kills in a recent 5-set loss to Pacific, pretty impressive!). I've heard good things abotu Davidson, a 6-9 freshman middle, but the box scores indicate he's not getting too many reps at this time, although you should definitely keep an eye out for him.

Although they'll most likely be transitioning a bit from the players they lost, expect them to be more seasoned come playoff time than most due to the schedule they play. I would be surprised if they didn't get the At-Large bid for the Molten's.

STEVENS COLLEGE:

Currently 5-0 with two convincing wins against NYU and a sweep of Nazareth, Stevens looks to be establishing themselves as the team to beat in the NECVA this season. With the three-headed monster of seniors Cranford/Bocchichio/Trinsey, as well as Grobeis having a year under his belt as their setter, it seems like they've hit their stride early on this season. I wouldn't be shocked to see them 9-0 going into their biggest statement games of the season in my mind, Home at Vassar on February 7th, and at Juniata on February 12th. Be sure to keep your eye on this team!

SECOND TIER: ALWAYS A THREAT.

(Although these teams may not be in the same boat as the first three, any of them could beat any other team at any time.)

JUNIATA:

I'm sure the EIVA posters will feel that they deserve to be in the first tier, but I feel at 1-1 with no D-III matches under their belt, it's fair to put them in the "they can beat everyone, but they haven't done anything this season to put them above the rest" category. They lost a HUGE player in Fritz, as well as another starter in Bock, but the majority of the players return, and you know seniors Werle/Powers will want to go out on top. Wanner seems to be the go-to guy in the first few matches. With 4 matches versus the teams mentioned above, they have quite a few opportunities to make their case to win their 5th National Championship in 6 years.

VASSAR:

They're 0-2, but look at the two losses: They played their first match of the year at Newbury (their 4th match, 2 of the previous ones being against nationally-ranked teams, so they were a bit more prepared), on the road, down 20-14 in game 3 after losing the first two sets, and they still claw back to force a game 5, and a 5-game loss against Springfield with the score being 15-17. They are the best 0-2 team you'll find.

Losing Giunta hurts at the libero position, but Leserman has filled in somewhat nicely. Still, it hurts losing him as a hitter, and although Tully/Miccuci are two strong hitters, Fredrickson looked a bit shaky in the first match, and their passing (although still VERY strong, they take almost every ball with their hands unless it's an absolute bomb) isn't where it was last year, making their offense just a bit more predictable.

They have Penn running the show, whom I feel is the best coach you'll find in Division III. He will get every bit of potential out of them, and although they may start slower than last year, expect them to finish strong.

RIVIER:

In my opinion, the best recruiting class of 2009. They needed an opposite and an outside, which is exactly what they picked up. Only 1 Senior (Wright), but a plethora of veterans in Juniors Hansen (setter), Ferreira (Middle), and O'Neill (Libero). Add high-flying sophomore Andreozzi and transfer (apparently formerly from New Haven?) Austin Soucy, with freshman Corwin on the Opposite, and you have one nasty line-up. Only 1 5-set loss to Carthage to blemish their 7-1 record, this team will turn a few heads down the road if they haven't already done so by beating Ramapo at Ramapo in 4, as well as dismantling Philly Bible in 3. On top of that, Coach Kolek is one of the most under-rated coaches in Division III, and he will be sure like Penn to make sure his team continues to move forward.

RAMAPO:

Already in the Molten's due to hosting, this team still has a shot at winning the NECVA tournament to further justify being awarded the tournament. They lost a great opposite in Whitford, but Donahue is still a great hitter, their defense is some of the best in Division III, and they are as deep as any other team you'll find. They're 4-1, surviving a tough start to their schedule (4-set loss to Rivier, 5-set wins over Newbury/Hunter, sweep of PBU). Not the toughest schedule, but a good back-to-back against Vassar on February 28th and Stevens on March 4th will be a good gauge to see where they're at towards the end of the season.

NEWBURY:

5-1 with a 5-set loss to Ramapo with 2 of the lost sets being decided by 2 points is a decent start to the season, especially with wins over teams like Vassar/Hunter. Lots of talent, led by setter Matt Talamantes and middle Mark Thomas, this team still is a diamond in the rough. A bit inconsistent, but rising to the occasion when necessary (such as coming back from an 0-2 defecit to defeat Emmanuel this weekend), this team has the talent to go far: Whether they will or not remains to be seen.

NAZARETH:

They lost a lot of talent to graduation, but with All-American Leahy running the shoe, Petzoldt/Gimello on the sides, a strong libero and others filling in nicely, they seem to be off to a decent start, with losses to St. Francis (apparently a surprise team for the year) and Stevens. With wins against Hunter/NYU, they seem to be heading in the right direction, although there is still work to be done. Keep your eyes on their matches on Feb. 13-14 against trio of UC-Santa Cruz/EMU/Carthage.

THIRD TIER: NOBODY BELIEVED IN US!

(Stolen from Bill Simmons of ESPN: These teams are talented, but are not going to get the attention they probably deserve, which puts the "Nobody Believed in Us!" chip on their shoulder. Newbury definitely used that last season.)

NYU:

How does a 1-5 team make this list? By having those 5 losses against: St. Francis, George Mason, Stevens, and Nazareth. They have some work to do in order to bounce back, and their schedule doesn't look as if it will get any easier. They have a bomber on the outside in Wintermeyer though, and Hodgson can have some big games. Time will tell whether they belong on this list, or were put here more on reputation.

BARUCH:

This team is going to be interesting to say the least. BIG transfers in Pablo Oliviera and Erik Kowalski (Random Tangent: What the heck happened to make these two leave?? Hunter would be incredible this year if these two were still there. Wish I had the backstory on this). Add Senior Levent to the mix, and they'll be a force to reckon with all season. Plenty of tests this season to see whether they can gel or just be one of those coulda-been teams we see all too often. I predict plenty of upset victories, as well as many disappointing losses.

CARTHAGE:

Always hard to gauge a team that is non-East Coast, but they seem to be capable of doing some damage, providing Rivier with their only loss of the season in a 5-set thriller. They seem to be working out the kinks still with losses to Endicott/Baruch, but with one of the toughest schedules you'll find, they should be able to pull some quality wins when they fly out to the east coast on Feb. 13-14 (matches against Stevens/Medaille/Vassar), as well as when they host a tournament for spring break (PBU, UC-Santa Cruz, NYU, Nazareth).

EASTERN MENNONITE:

GREAT middles in Reesor/Coto, one of the best recruiting classes in the nation, and a tough home gym to play in. Strong 5-set win against Mount Olive, as well as a 5-setter against Emmanuel, and they look to build on their semi-final appearance in the NECVA tournament last year. Keep your eye on their progress in up and coming matches against PBU, as well as the Nazareth tournament in 3 weeks, which will be the first time they go up against the top teams.

HUNTER:

Did I mention I'm still sad they didn't keep Oliviera/Kowalski? Would have been a fun team to watch... Despite that, they are still a scrappy team with triple-double machines Ripoll/Jakubiak blasting away as well as running hands in a complex 6-3 offense. Stevens handled them pretty easily, but they've taken games from Nazareth/NYU/Newbury/Ramapo. When they're on fire, they can play with the best. In the big picture? Their lack of height hurts, as well as gaping holes in the block. Still, be ready for them to always flirt with the bottom of the AVCA top 15, as well as pulling some upset wins in the process.

MEDAILLE:

I'm still not sold on this team, but with wins over Baruch (although I hear they didn't have their full roster), Endicott, and MSOE, they at least need to be mentioned. Led by Ryan Murdie, a versatile middle that can play all the way around, they'll have plenty of matches to earn this when they play Nazareth/Hunter/EMU/Stevens/Vassar.

FOURTH TIER: WE COULD HAVE BEEN A CONTENDER...

(Probably gonna take heat for this group, because this consists of teams that probably feel they belong in the third tier, although FROM MY OWN PERSPECTIVE they're probably just below it. They'll give every team a game, and they'll have their share of upsets, but in the big picture, they probably won't get much of a shot at the Molten's this year. MY OPINION. NOT FACT. With this being one of the most exciting years Division III has probably ever seen, there are plenty of teams that can fight for the top. You disagree? Spend a few hours of your own constructing one of these.)

EMMANUEL:

After playing them yesterday, I can tell you this team has the capability of doing some damage. They pulled 2 sets out from under us before we got our act together and started rising to the occasion. That was without their starting setter. They've also taken EMU/New Paltz to 5. A bit weak in the middle, but they've got a big opposite putting up a strong block, as well as a strong outside attack with Abram/Townsend able to hit from all positions. Lots of talent, probably have the most potential to bump up to the third tier, and they'll have a chance to do so with matches against Rivier/Ramapo/Hunter/Baruch in the next 3 weeks.

PHILADELPHIA BIBLE UNIVERSITY:

They had a great run last year, surprising a lot of teams. However, they still seem to only have 2 strong hitters, and they won't catch teams off-guard like last year. I'm sure Brubaker will continue to blast 5-6 kills a game, but once teams start keying on him, they'll have to turn to others if they expect to beat any of the teams listed above.

ENDICOTT:

Big win against Carthage, but losses against MSOE/Baruch/Medaille can spoil that somewhat... Great All-Americans in Coleman/Witofsky, and apparently they have a 6-7 opposite that is a roofing machine, but will they be able to hang with the top teams? We shall see.
Side note: Remember Clay Ostrander? Transferred to Pacific from Endicott, doesn't get too much time playing there. It would have been his senior year... Imagine if he had stayed! Could have boosted this team to 2nd-tier easy.

LASELL:

Definite Darkhorse to keep your eyes on this year... great start with a 4-set win over MIT. I've seen them during pre-season, and their starters look pretty good. Freshman setter runs a great offense, can bang on the outside as well. I think they'll be close to the third tier, and perhaps they'll get a chance to prove me wrong this Tuesday :).

MSOE:

Wish I had more information on this team. Tell them to update their site. My school doesn't have a gym, but even we've updated our page for the 2009 season. Just for that, I'm not writing a recap for them.

SUNY NEW PALTZ:

Wins over Emmanuel/MIT, Loss to Hunter. Talent is there, but they're going to have their work cut out for them in order to crack the top 15.

FIFTH TIER: UP AND COMING?

MIT:

Malcolm Bean is still not playing, so that could change their luck. Still, wins over a crippled Elms/Lesley combined with losses to New Paltz/Lasell leaves a bit to be desired. Don't count them out quite yet though...

ELMS:

Disappointing start. Despard's transferring to play basketball elsewhere had more repercussions than anyone probably expected. Two of the side hitters have been battling knee injuries, and they still are having issues getting their blue chipper eligible to play. Will they re-group to meet all the preseason hype? Time will tell.

NJCU:

Decent recruiting class, still probably needs some work, but could turn some heads this season. Keep your eye on them.

Time for real homework. Boooo...

The Dangers of Early Success.

2009-01-25T12:14:00.002-05:00

com·pla·cen·cy

n.
1. A feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, especially when coupled with an unawareness of danger, trouble, or controversy.
2. An instance of contented self-satisfaction.

The word comes to mind when thinking about the way our team has played recently. We come out of this weekend 5-1, but there is cause for concern after giving Emmanuel (and giving is the proper term the way we played/carried ourselves) a 2-0 lead.

Sometimes I feel we have too much physical talent for our own good, and that's not as an egotistical remark. Emmanuel is a strong team, with a couple veteran hitters on the outside, and a nice addition to the bench (Costas, the only 4-time All-American First-teamer in NCAA Men's Volleyball history). After dropping the first two sets to this team, it's like we literally flipped the switch, and the match wasn't very close from that point on. Kudos to Emmanuel for how they played though, in game 5 their bench was literally screaming across the net at us, a great sign for a young team is when they're not intimidated by what looks like a much stronger team on paper. I feel other teams will not be so lucky later on down the road to overcome a 2-set deficit against this team.

It was nice upsetting Vassar in 5, but in reality we were up 20-14 in the third set and should have closed it out at that point. My own philosophy is that the best teams are the ones that play the same regardless of what the scoreboard says or who is on the other side of the net. 6 matches into the season, a positive I see about our team is that we rise to the occasion when the stakes are high. The thing that I feel needs changing if we want the national championship is to begin playing with a consistent sense of urgency/aggression every play. We have gotten a bit complacent, and that's a dangerous thing, especially this early in the season.

Hopefully the Emmanuel game will be a wake-up call. We head to Newton to face a 2-0 Lasell team that picked up a lot of talent this year, and they're definitely going to be hungry. A little side bonus will be playing in front of the team I helped coach this fall, so hopefully we put on a good show!

Individually, I can't say I'm pleased with how I've been playing recently. Way too many hitting errors, not getting around the block enough. Simple as that. Serve receive feels great, and although my serve was a bit shaky to start the season I think I'm finally starting to get back into my groove. I really need to start picking it up on the attacking front. There are games I'll blast 4-5 kills in a row, and others where I hit for a negative percentage.

Last season was definitely a different atmosphere for me as a hitter. I was playing opposite for the second year in a row, so there was some experience. We had Erik and Mark as the 1-2 punch, so teams tended to fall asleep defending me on the right side. I had countless solo blocks, and I feel that was what helped me hit for a higher percentage. Now? Erik's gone, I'm on the outside, and blocks seem to be much less surprised when I'm getting the ball. It's early, and I have no doubt that I'll adjust, but it sure would be nice to do it sooner rather than later.

As for the season as a whole, it definitely has an exciting feel to it. Everyone is beating everyone else, and unlike previous years there are no clear-cut favorites. Even Springfield got taken to 5 by Vassar just like we did! Meanwhile, Ramapo beats us, but Rivier beats Ramapo, but Carthage beats Rivier, although Carthage lost to Baruch/Endicott... you get the point. To be honest, the one team that seems to have been playing consistently well is Stevens... it'll be interesting to see how they play against the Juniata/Springfield/Vassar's. I wish we had them on the schedule this year, but I suppose we'll have to wait til NECVA's.

I plan on writing a bit of a D-III Recap/Personal Ranking today, I'll post it on here when it's complete.

Peaks, Valleys, Success!

2009-01-20T11:32:00.003-05:00

Thank the powers that be that 2 of my classes were cancelled today, because I can't remember a time I was this drained. The last 48 hours have been an absolute rollercoaster physically, mentally, and emotionally. Luckily, the end result was pretty good, so I can't complain about it!

Last night Vassar came to our gym to open up their season. Despite the narrow loss to Ramapo, everyone had a good feeling about the match tonight. I didn't feel like there was too much nervousness, we had prepared, and knew their offense much better now that we've actually had a couple matches against them.

Vassar is ranked 3rd in the nation, and since joining the conference had gone unbeaten in 21 matches against fellow NECVA teams. They made it to the national championship last year, to be defeated by Springfield College. Although they lost 3 players, they returned two First-Team All-Americans, and we knew we had to play some good ball in order to get the W.

Luckily MLK Jr. Day meant no classes, so after returning home at 3 am Sunday night, I woke up at noon to head to brunch. ate, came back, rested a bit, then went to the gym with the work study van to get some extra treatment before the game. Stim'd the thumb, which has been doing alright, but still isn't 100%, heated/stretched the lower back, and began stretching for the match with the team after.

Vassar is coached by 2008 D-III Coach of the Year Jonathan Penn. The minute they walk in the gym, everything they do is with a purpose. I would be lying if I said I didn't glance over during my own warmup from time to time to watch them go through each drill like a well-oiled machine. The discipline they show in everything they do is quite professional, and definitely is something I hope to accomplish with teams I coach later on in my life.

National Anthem, starting lineups, shake hands, and time to get to work. Game 1 starts with us going back and forth, with Vassar gradually pulling away to a 14-10 lead. We continue to sideout, but aren't making up points. It gets to 24-20 (I believe it may have actually gotten to 26-20), and we start going to work, with a couple huge blocks getting us fired up. The game goes back and forth, and I get lined up on the right-side for match point, where Max drew the middle and I had a wide-open cross-court shot to finish the game. 33-31 Newbury!

Game 2 starts out the same way, with both teams trading points, not looking to give up an inch. The momentum shifts our way when James Beck goes back to the service line and hits his stride. When he gets hot, he's one of the top jump servers in the nation, and tonight his ball simply had a different sound to it when he blasted it. Off-the-net passes led to Vassar struggling to hit in their system which depends on good serve-receive, and we cruise to a 30-21 victory, putting us one game away from the sweep.

Game 3 starts out with us coming out hot, starting with a 6-1 lead. We continue to play strong, trading sideouts, pushing to a 20-14 lead. This is where things get a little sloppy... we slowly start giving them points here and there, letting them chip away, and eventually end up tied at 28. Vassar is NOT a team you can count out until the final point has been scored, and we're still working on that killer instinct, stepping on throats, finishing the team off and not letting them back in. My dad gave me a quote when I was coaching a team that had the same problem which I found kind of funny: "it takes a good team to knock someone down, it takes a champion to kick them when they're down". We had Vassar down, but didn't finish them, and it proved to be costly.

Game 4 starts with Vassar taking a quick 3 point lead, but we push back to tie it around 11. However, we get stuck in a rotation and they just starting running that lead up. We simply couldn't put a whole play together. They aced us a few times, but other times the passes were there and the hitters simply didn't finish. We finally sideout, push a couple points, but the damage was done, and we were going the distance after a 30-18 shellacking.

Coach gets us in the huddle and asks us what we're thinking, and pretty much everyone was pissed off that we had let them back in. However, we had been here before, and knew that it did us no good to dwell on it, and to just play in the present, play hard, and secure the win. The game starts off with Mark absolutely destroying a 1 ball, followed by Tully ripping a cross-shot on the outside to tie it at 1. The game goes back and forth, and at 7-all, Vassar smashes a kill, only to have the point go to us due to the hitter going under the net.

We get a couple points, and put the game at 11-8, only to have Vassar come back and tie it at 11. We get a couple HUGE blocks, and at 14-12, Beck serves a bomb that gets shot to the net by the passer, which the setter tries to play but ends up shanking it out of bounds due to the difficulty of the bounce. 15-12 Newbury!

It was an absolutely incredible match. A mixture of emotions regarding it flood my head. On one end, there's disappointment that we didn't close the match out in three. On the other hand, we could have played MUCH better, and despite that, we still upset the 3rd ranked team in the nation. The end result is what matters, and that being said, I'm glad we did what it took to finish with the win. Everyone pulled their weight in one way or another, and when we fire on all cylinders, we're a tough team to play.

Not too much time to bask in it, because we have matches Saturday against Mount Ida and Emmanuel. Emmanuel can definitely be a force when they're on, so we'll need to play strong from the get-go to make sure they don't catch us on our heels. Practice today from 3-5, I need to grab food, so I'll update later.

Tri-Match Recap, Buzz in the Air

2009-01-19T14:53:00.003-05:00

After a VERY long wait, we had our tri-match at Ramapo College yesterday, and it was some very action-packed ball! We started by getting picked up at 6:30 in the morning by our coach, who took us back to campus where a Crystal Transport Bus awaited our arrival. It's a good thing we ended up taking it, because the weather was so bad that I honestly don't know if we would have made the trip otherwise (to give you an idea, we arrived back home at 3 am. Our matches were scheduled for 1 and 3 pm).

The tri-match consisted of 9th in the nation Ramapo (home team), Hunter, who was ranked 15th, and ourselves, currently ranked 10th. We arrived at the gym midway through the second game between Ramapo/Hunter. It ended up being a pretty good match, with Ramapo taking it in 5. Hunter is a very scrappy team, and they run a hybrid 6-3 offense I've never seen before, but man are they fun to watch. It's a shame 2 of their studs transferred to Baruch, because otherwise I feel they'd be a legitimate competitor for the top of NECVAs otherwise.

We ended up playing Hunter after this, and beat them in 4 close games. We probably could have swept them, just a few mistakes here and there that they capitalized ended up being the difference in game 3. They have some phenominal defense in the backrow, but their middles really struggle with closing the block, so we had a field day exploiting solo blocks. I think Hunter will be a tough team all season, but there are a few things that I believe the top teams will continue to exploit, and they'll probably float between 10th and 15th nationally all season.

The match vs. Ramapo was after this, and it was a battle. The first game we came out flat and lost 30-24, the second game we came out hot and won 30-23, lost a barnburner 31-33 in the third, won a 30-28 game 4 that we should have put away much earlier, and lost 15-13 in game 5. Absolute heartbreaker, and I was disappointed afterwards thinking about how a lot of plays I could have done differently would have made the difference, but you can't dwell on what went wrong, just gotta keep moving forward. I look forward to seeing Ramapo in the NECVAS later on this season!

Despite the loss, we had what I felt was the best team dinner I've ever had as an athlete. Lots of team bonding, lots of laughing, and just an overall morale builder. We didn't get back til late, but everyone slept in, and the excitement for the Vassar match tonight is just incredible. I can't remember the last time (if ever) the players were this excited for a match, perhaps the home opener against Rivier 2 years ago when they were ranked 7th in the nation (which we won!). The crowd is always electrifying at Hellenic College (where our home games are, I believe we're the only NCAA men's volleyball team without a gym..), and I know we'll be feeding off of it. This is Vassar's first match of the season, so we'll see if they're still working out the kinks for replacing the graduates, or if their hitting their stride already.

I will post more details about this weekend/Vassar match later tonight! Wish us luck!

An Ugly Win is Better Than a Pretty Loss.

2009-01-16T02:25:00.002-05:00

It's probably a good thing I didn't write this right after we got back from the match, because the over-analytical Bryan would have certainly written a novel nit-picking all of the little things that in the big picture aren't that bad. With so much anticipation for this match, and how energetic we were at the BU tournament, it was a bit of a disappointment regarding how we played tonight. However, we did what needed to be done, and although there are some kinks that need to be worked out, we came out with a 30-27, 30-18, 30-28 win.

As a team, we played very well overall, hitting .360 as a team. On a positive note, we served very aggressively, and although we only had one block the entire match, I believe that it was because we had them so out of system that they really didn't set many balls that were on the net. On the negative side, we missed A LOT of serves, and probably won't be able to get away with that once we play better competition.

Serve receive was hot and cold, and I believe part of it was simply not practicing with this line-up much before the match. We even had 2 out-of-rotations, and I don't believe we did that all of last season. Hopefully that doesn't become a habit. Our offense was pretty fast-paced, but the defense still leaves a bit to be desired.

Overall, I'd say it was a good warm-up match, although I hate that term normally. I think it was good to kill any egos we had left, and hopefully now we're ready to be a little more focused so we're ready for the tri-match Sunday.

Individually, I didn't feel too great about how I played on the court, but it could have been much worse. 4 assists (as an outside, I'll take it!), 10 digs, and 12 kills on 26 attempts. However, the 6 hitting errors are going to aggravate me, as .231 is not a percentage I intend to be content with. We ran a lot of different plays though, so I think it was just me struggling with the timing. It will get better with time, and as long as we win, I could care less what the individual box score is.

Anyways, we have game film tomorrow, then practice Saturday, and the big tri-match Sunday. It's going to be a great test to see where we're at, definitely looking forward to it! Time for sleep, I'll update tomorrow.

Season-Opener Tonight!

2009-01-15T15:34:00.002-05:00

With our first game tonight, it's a wonder I was able to go through all three of my classes and pay any attention to the tasks at hand. However, I seemed to do alright. With all my academic duties over and done with, I'm now able to begin re-focusing on getting prepared for our away game at Johnson & Wales.

After a decent practice yesterday which we went over a couple new plays, I went home, did some light stretching, talked to a few people back at home, and did some reading before slipping into bed around 12:30. Woke up at 8 am, did some laundry, prepared my bag (camera, tripod, socks, shoes, ipod, ib profun, roller stick, calf stretcher, you name it, it's probably in my bag), and listened to some music while doing visualization.

Visualization has really helped me since I began using it. The book "Mind Gym" by Gary Mack really peaked my interest in doing it, and since starting to do it, I've found myself much less anxious when the first whistle blows, as I'm much more mentally prepared to do my job. I highly suggest any athlete try spending 5-10 minutes before they go to sleep visualizing themselves performing successfully, detailing everything as much as possible.

Once we get in the van, I'll most likely throw my Ipod on, and read the first half of the trip. When we get within 20 minutes, I'll start to do some more visualization. Some players like to be more social before games, but I like to have a bit of self-reflection, leaving the interaction for the van ride back, hopefully celebrating a victory. Once we arrive, I get dressed, do some pre-game stretches I prefer on my own, then get ready to do the team stretches. By the time the game's ready to start, I'm ready to battle.

Johnson & Wales is what I'd describe as a "middle-tier" team. We've had some close games with them, but I believe we've won every set we've played against them since the time I've been at Newbury. They have some size, as well as an outside with a cannon of a shoulder, but I believe our advantage in the depth department will prove to be too much for them. Still, you can't underestimate any opponent, as it's all about who plays better for the 3-5 games you're on the court, not necessarily who looks better on paper.

The guys are fired up. We've worked extremely hard all pre-season, and look forward to seeing the benefit once we hit the court tonight. I'm sure I'll be on tonight with a brief recap. Wish us luck!

Last Double Session, Quick Rant, Other Random Thoughts.

2009-01-13T12:52:00.003-05:00

Well, yesterday concluded our double sessions, and I'm sad to see them go. The week preceding spring classes is a brief glimpse into my dream, playing volleyball 4 hours a day, talking volleyball for probably another 4, eating, sleeping, rinse, repeat. Although I'm sure my body will enjoy having a bit more rest, I feel that the team has grown exponentially in the last week. It seems like we're really hitting our stride, and hopefully that will show in the next week.

My thumb is becoming a frustration, as after a week it still gives me some problems. I did a lighter tape job for this practice, and was pleased with a bit more solid contact with my hitting (previously, the amount of tape forced for an uneven platform when attacking, which led to more difficulty in hitting my target areas so to speak). However, I find myself extremely hesitant to serve receive with my hands, which is aggravating as I normally attempt to take the majority of my serves with my hands. The Electro-stim we've been doing on it seems to help, and I've iced it mercilessly, so hopefully come Thursday's game I'll be good to go.

Quick rant: I was watching ESPN yesterday, and there was a discussion involving the Baseball Hall of Fame inductees. One notable name that came up was Mark McGwire, who fell VERY short of the required 75 percent to be inducted (I believe he recieved 26 percent). Joe Morgan, a Hall of Famer himself as well as an ESPN analyst, said that although he expected the first few years to be difficult for Big Mac, he's surprised that he's still being blackballed getting into Cooperstown, citing that "he DID help bring the game back on its feet (after the strike).

This infuriated me. Where is the integrity? Look, I can tell you every little detail of what I was doing with McGwire hit his 62nd home run, a line drive shot down the left-field line. I was just as interested in the home run race as anyone, and I'm not exactly a huge baseball fan. But with all the controversy, as well as the famous "I'm not here to talk about the past" line, how can a player claim that McGwire cheating is overshadowed by helping baseball become popular again?

You may argue "Well, it isn't positive that McGwire cheated". I'm going to shut that down right now. When asked by the grand jury if he had taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs, McGwire said "I'm not here to talk about the past."

Picture yourself in a relationship with someone. You hear a rumor about them being unfaithful. If you point blank asked them if they cheated on you, and their answer was "I'm not here to talk about the past", what would you do?

Give me a break. I have no sympathy for the MLB, the fact that the union became greedy and forced a strike does not justify cheating in order to put up monster numbers to get the fans interested again. As someone who's interested in the league as a business I understand Morgan's perspective, as a fan and an athlete who thinks integrity of sports need to be respected, I think McGwire is right where he belongs: Away from Cooperstown.

That's it for now. Practice from 5-7, rumor has it there will be a lot of conditioning. Time for a quick power nap!

P.S.: I've gotten a couple people to agree to interviews, including a former Olympian. That being the case, I'm constructing the questions as we speak. If you're a reader and have anything you'd like to know from a player of that caliber, let me know and I'll be sure to include it!

Game Film

2009-01-12T00:28:00.002-05:00

One of my sports idols growing up was Tony Gwynn. Although never physically in the best shape, Tony Gwynn was a baseball player with one of the sweetest swings you've ever seen. When being interviewed on ESPN Radio shortly after his Hall of Fame induction a few years back, he credited his technique to constant breakdown of his mechanics, including feeling that he was one of the first people to truly utilize game film to the fullest of its potential.

Bob Vilsoet is the head coach at Harper College, and I was lucky enough to have played USAV with him for two years before coming to Newbury. He brought his camera to a few of our tournaments, and this was the first experience I had with game film, and I've never looked back. He would constantly rewind and pause frame by frame, breaking down every little detail, showing me aspects of the game I had never really thought of before.

Fast forward to today, and I've recorded almost every collegiate match I've played in the last two years. I feel that a lot of my improvement has came from the ability to look at past performances and see exactly what I'm doing. Whether its after a good game and watching what to keep doing, or after a weaker perfomance where I have to see what exactly went wrong, I feel that game film is one of the most under-utilized tools athletes have to better themselves. It never ceases to amaze me how many people have never seen themselves play.

Why don't coaches use game film more? I suppose it's not for everyone. I've watched film with a lot of people and all they want to do is watch it like a highlight film, not focusing on any room for improvement, although that too does have its benefits. Sometimes when I'm in a slump, I'll watch some film from a good match, as I feel it's a good confidence builder.

Anyways, no real direction with this blog post. Just discussed game film with someone today and it was still fresh in my mind. If you play and haven't ever had the chance to see yourself play, find someone with a camera and give it a shot!

Last double session tomorrow. Feeling somewhat sore still, going to stretch and head to bed.

Rollercoaster of a Practice.

2009-01-10T20:50:00.003-05:00

After a relaxing day off, which consisted of watching television and icing the thumb, we got back to work on the court with a 3-hour practice session. Unfortunately, it was scheduled for about 45 minutes after we had eaten brunch, and being a bit of a glutton I probably ate too much.

We begin with some conditioning, and although Coach usually challenges us, she really upped the tempo today. I was able to do all the drills efficiently, but it was an effort to hold everything down, and I felt like a zombie the first 1/2 hour after we finished conditioning and got to volleyball drills.

Luckily, I eventually got over this, and after a long hitting-lines session (which I believe led to me finally learning how to hit a 1 ball efficiently, although I don't see myself trying to move to middle anytime soon regardless), we did a pretty cool scrimmage drill that involved 4 quarters which ends when one team hits 120 points, with only one brief waterbreak for halftime.

After starting somewhat casually, my team jumps out to a 30 point lead. After we gave up about a 7 point run, I found myself getting a bit more amped, calling for the ball, putting about 7-8 straight kills away. It was just like I felt when I caught fire during the playoffs of the BU tournament.

I feel that it's both a strong/weak point of my game. On a positive note, I love playing with my back against the wall, and feel that I play at my highest level when all the chips are on the table. On the other end, it's frustrating not to be able to bring that fire in all situations. I realize that it's unrealistic to play your best at all times, but I still don't like the lack of consistency. You watch the professionals, and they seem to always play the same game everytime they step on the court... That's what I want to build towards.

All that being said, it was a very strong practice overall for the team. We're all anxiously approaching our first match against Johnson & Wales on Thursday, and although odds are heavily in our favor, we remain focused on playing our best possible game and making sure we take care of things on our side of the court. One more day off tomorrow, then a long string of practices/games to follow. Looking forward to it! I'm sure I'll post tomorrow on some random thoughts going through my head.

Season has begun!

2009-01-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

The irony about "breaks" when you go to school a thousand miles away from home is that you end up feeling more tired when you come back than you did when you left! It was great being home for three weeks catching up with friends and family, but trying to see everyone, play volleyball to keep the rust away, and driving 15 1/2 hours through the night to get back for our first practice certainly took its toll.

Although I was exhausted by the time we rolled into campus, I was excited for our first practice of the season! Unfortunately, it only consisted of seven of us due to flight delays/other external factors, but we made the best of it, and it was good to get on the court again with the guys that did show up. Serve receive felt decent, hitting was consistent, and the jump serve went pretty well. Definitely room for improvement in all categories, but after catching up on sleep and getting my body back to a usual routine, I feel like I'm starting to hit my stride. A small setback with a pretty badly jammed thumb on my hitting hand on Tuesday, but with lots of icing and tape, I'll be good to go come our first match.

We finally have an assistant coach, and he seems to be fitting in nicely. The head coach for the women's team at Coast Guard, he brings a lot of strong conditioning drills, and I feel that practices have sharpened up since his arrival. Kind of quiet, but starting to open up little by little. I think he'll benefit us this season.

The conditioning this week has been rigorous. Today was our first off day after 3 double-sessions in a row, and it was much needed. I can't remember the last time I was this sore, although I'm pleased with how good I feel physically when I'm on the court. I'm interested to see if this is going to continue all season though, as I can't imagine doing four months of this in a row!

So far the transition to outside has been great. Although I miss the blocking duties of playing opposite, I am REALLY enjoying middle back. I feel like I'm settling in nicely, and am excited to have more opportunities to get touches in the backrow, as right-back seems to get the least amount of action. Hitting this week has been a bit shaky due to the amount of tape on my thumb affecting my contact, but come Monday I should be fine without the tape-job, and will be back to normal in no time.

I've been talking ball with a couple friends back at home, and an interesting discussion that's been coming up is in regards to when to make your decision on where to put the ball as an attacker. I'm starting to wonder if I need to consider adjusting my personal method.

Although the sports are different, I always liked John Wooden's philosophy of making the opponent adapt to you instead of you adapting to them. I realize that as a hitter, you need to be aware of where the block is, but after figuring out where it is, I'm going to hit the shot which I can get the highest, strongest contact at. This is probably why the majority of my kills end up as tools off the block. The strength of this is I feel I'm able to make my decision much quicker than my friends (all who say they wait almost until contact point before committing to their shot). Obviously if it's a trap-set I'm going to adjust, but for the most part I stick to my method of making my decision probably by my second step of my approach. Any feedback on other people's thoughts on the subject would be appreciated.

Now that I'm back on campus, I'll be writing on a more regular basis once again. I'm thinking about having monthly interviews with other players, whether it be other collegiate players, professionals, or even Olympians. After messaging some people I know and seeing the results, I'll decide whether or not that's realistic.

Back to watching the Celtics/Cavaliers game. Practice from 1-4 tomorrow, I'll update afterwards.

Holiday Epiphanies.

2008-12-27T01:25:00.000-05:00

As I sit here on a Friday night relaxing after a long open gym, I find myself with a mixture of emotions, some good, others not so much. I'll do my best to not be too scattered with my ramblings and see if I can come up with something somewhat enjoyable to read.

First off:This break was EXACTLY what I needed. With my home-home being in Chicago, and Newbury being 1,000 miles away, Christmas break is the only time I come home from September to May. It's a combination of relaxing from the grind of school/work/volleyball and chaos of trying to catch up with everyone in a 3-week span, all while battling the time conflicts of the holiday season.

Regardless, I think this may have been the best Christmas yet, even though it may not have been the most eventful. The sad reality of things is I'm getting older! Some of my gifts include: "The Stick" (Device used to get kinks out of muscles, was a LIFESAVER at Ramapo for NECVAS last year and I'm thankful they had one, glad I have one now as well!), a "prostretch calf device (a blue half-circle that you stretch your calves on, any player with a decent training room should know what this is), a water filtration pitcher for the dorm room, a pair of mizuno socks (SO comfortable - about time I got a pair!), and a yoga mat with cleaning solution, as I've started doing it to increase my flexibility. What happened to all the toys! :)

Meanwhile, I had the joy of watching my 4 year-old brother go to town on his presents. It was the first Christmas he REALLY understood the concept of the holiday (well, maybe not the actual meaning behind it, but the fact that presents were at hand was DEFINITELY loud and clear for him). He got some pretty cool stuff, it's amazing how much toys have changed since my generation, I can't imagine how people 10-20 years older feel! It was fun playing with him all day.

We went to my Aunt's, and it was SO nice to catch up with everyone. I picked my grandma up from her Assisted Living complex, and it was a roller-coaster of emotions regarding that. She had a great day, she had a good time overall, but to give you an idea of where she's at mentally, after spending the entire day with her and driving her back, she randomly said "I'm so glad whats-his-name took care of me all day". I said "you mean Bryan?", "Yes" she replied. After stating how I was Bryan, she gave me a funny look, then proceeded to talk about how nice I was and how she thinks I'm going to succeed in whatever I do... but in the third-person, as if telling it to a stranger. Eyes welled up (although anyone that knows me knows I can't cry, and not by choice. Blasted society hitting me with masculinity undertones I suppose), and that was pretty much that. Sad to think that the next time I see her she probably won't remember me, but that's life. I'm just glad I got one more good day with her.

So that was my Christmas. I went shopping this morning, proceeded to feel depressed about being the oldest non-parent at American Eagle (NOT because of the lack of a child, mind you), but found some nice clothes at pretty cheap prices, so that was nice. Open gym was tonight, and continued a string of nights where I've started to really struggle with something I had hoped I would never have to deal with.

I have not had your typical volleyball journey. After spending 4 years playing at my high school (which honestly? I can't even remember a lot of it. Coach treated me like garbage, I didn't learn the game very well, and didn't feel that I brought much to the table), I had surgery on my foot, and after 18 months out of action, ran into the right people that started jump starting my passion for the sport.

I began what I feel is my REAL volleyball career at 19, at open gyms. I wasn't anything special, but I hustled for every ball, sometimes very carelessly, which has left me with a few hip scars to prove it. I also was very polite to teammates, and although I have a mean streak regarding my competitive drive, I never treated people good/bad based on their athletic ability. I also played in rec leagues in the area outside of playing USAV, and after 2 years of this, finally got my foot in the door thanks to Coach Dave at Newbury.

Although I have continued to improve every year, slowly moving up in levels regarding tournaments I play, I continued to stay in touch with those that helped me along the way when I first started out, and hit the same open gyms now that I did when I first started (The open gym I went to tonight was the first open gym I ever attended, and regulars from that night were still there). I always stay true to my roots, because without the support/guidance of these people, I wouldn't be where I'm at today.

People have always complimented me on being able to turn off the competitive juices and just have fun regardless of who's playing and what the scores are. I've met plenty of high level players that refuse to play open gyms unless its top-notch competition. The thing that concerns me this break is I find myself having issues shutting it down for these open gyms, and although I don't call anyone out personally or point fingers, I do take losses harder than I have in the past, and find myself a bit more flustered at the end of the night than I used to be.

My best friend/teammate Josh and I have discussed the evolution of players in volleyball. Although they improve gradually, we have a "plateau theory", basically involving having a breakout game, where you're able to sustain that increase from there on out. Something about that game STICKS with you, whether its the confidence, the epiphany of a new level you may not have known you can play at, or other factors.

At BU, I had one of those plateau games. On top of that, I felt a definite change in my mental play. Our team's energy was up, and although I kept it on our side of the net, I found myself much louder, energetic, and aggressive on the court. And I liked it. A lot. I've always been a hustle player, but I felt like I really broke out of a shell that tournament, and I didn't want to lose that.

Fast forward to the open gyms. You simply cannot compare it. I had a great team tonight, but we had one guy that was a bit shaky, who you never knew if he was gonna go underneath you for the block/hit, who didn't have too much energy on top of that (which is understandable, it's easy to get intimidated when you're surrounded by a higher level of players. He admitted it, and I made sure to tell him it was no big deal, that he was doing fine. Hope he keeps working at it). I don't want to become one of those people that can't play an open gym because "the level isn't good enough", but it's hard to get amped up and play my game when you've got players like that on the court.

So the paradox is this: I have the realization that a) Open gyms are OPEN, b) players need to start somewhere, I was that guy 4 years ago and people were patient with me, and c) that I know I've had fun before and need to let go of the frustration of losing from time to time. However, on the same note I've found a new fire when I'm on the court, an energy that I feel helps me step up my game, and I find it difficult to maintain it while on teams like this (especially given the fact that I believe at BU I fed off of my teammates, who are some of the most passionate players I've been lucky enough to be next to on the court). Where is the happy medium?

You hear about older players saying that they started to figure stuff like this out just as their physical skills begin to decline. I would love to be an outlier and learn it now. The downsides of being 23... I'll get over it. Only a couple more open gyms, then before you know it I'm back with my teammates at Newbury and it's time for the season to begin!

Hope everyone's holidays are going well! Not sure how many readers I have (I would LOVE if someone knew how to get a counter on here for how many people visit), but if anyone has a question/topic they'd like discussed, I'm very flexible in what I put on here. Let me know!

First Post From Back Home

2008-12-17T18:47:00.000-05:00

I would have posted a blog earlier, but simply have been too tired to write all the thoughts that fly through my mind on a regular basis. However, after an hour and a half at my physical therapist, I feel as good physically as I can remember feeling in a long time. I really wish I could take them with to Boston, they aren't just nice people but phenominal at what they do. I have yet to go in there for something without a prompt diagnosis/treatment to keep me moving forward. I've been going to them for 3 years now, and wouldn't be able to play at the level that I do without their guidance.

Moving on: After a 15 1/2 hour car-ride, Josh and I finally arrived back at home, and it's been the break I desperately needed. I was on the brink of a breakdown at school, and getting a rest from the regular grind couldn't have come at a better time. I ended up doing pretty well, with all A's except for one A-, which I wasn't pleased about, but I suppose I could have worked harder to get the grade I wanted. Lesson learned.

Seeing the little brother has been great, and it never ceases to amaze me how much he grows both physically and mentally each time I return. I've spent the majority of my trip playing with him as I've struggled to lock down a job from any of my previous employers short-term. Rather than rant on that as I could, I'll just say the aftermath of the financial crisis has not made me regret my decision to add one more year to get a second degree and leave it at that.

It's been great catching up with old friends, and I'm sad that I can't stay longer, because although I love it in Boston, it doesn't have the feeling that Chicago has. Chicago is home. Chicago just feels right. I can't put it into words, I just know when I'm here I feel like this is where I'm supposed to be. It's been nice finding out how everyone has been since I've been gone, and it seems like the majority have been doing well.

Obviously, I've been playing ball, and it's been a good time so far. I feel very strong physically, and feel that I'll be ready to go come our first practice in January. I've kept in touch with a lot of the guys, and they're just fired up to get on the court. For whatever reason, the team seems to have that killer instinct that we were missing last season. Add that to a couple people making it a point to go out of their way telling us we'll struggle this season, and you've got a hard-working, motivated team with a chip on its shoulder.

On a bit darker note... I've found myself a bit shaken up about a dream I had about Coach Dave the other night... not going to go into details, but I find myself exhausted by the whole process. I realize that it's one of those things you'll never fully recover from, but I wonder if things are getting better or if I'm repressing my emotions. I suppose I have to just keep taking it one day at a time.

Anyways, I realize I never posted my thoughts on my individual performance at the BU tournament, but I'll write something tomorrow a bit deeper than just the tournament. For now, it's off to Betsy Ross to play a little co-ed ball.

Tournament Recap Part 2

2008-12-10T01:31:00.000-05:00

I figure the recap will be a three-parter: The first one was strictly results. This post will deal with the team aspect of the tournament, and the third will be my personal experience of the tournament as an individual.

As stated in the previous post, we ended up winning the tournament in strong fashion, winning every set we played. I was extremely impressed with the poise we showed, having a couple sets begin in a rough manner, but staying positive, pushing back, and eventually breaking the other team down.

Despite being exhausted from a 2-day tournament, I found myself waking up in the middle of the night to watch the finals at 4 am with my roommate Josh. Watching the film from this tournament was eye-opening on many levels. I'll do my best to keep it organized.

Chemistry: Definitely the strongest of any team I've been on. The starters had all of one day to practice together, but I felt like we clicked better than we had all last season. You look at how we react to both good and bad plays, and there's a genuine enjoyment playing together. We didn't necessarily dislike playing together last year, but the bond between teammates is much stronger this year, and I feel that it shows. On top of that, the offense was MUCH faster than last year. James is running shoots to the outside, our middles are constantly running 31's/1's/slides, and we're utilizing our backrow attack more than ever before. On top of that, I feel like our defense was much more effective, with strong blocks and scrappy defense picking up the rest. Serve receive had a couple sloppy moments, but with a setter like ours, we can still put a decent hit on a pass even if it's not quite perfect.

Diversity: Our offense is extremely balanced this year. On the second day, four of our hitters averaged over 2 kills a game, and we hit over .400 for 4 of the 7 games. Tally (our nickname for our setter) did a great job distributing the ball evenly, with each of the four hitters having at least one 4-kill set. Towards the end last year, one of our strongpoints was having a three-headed monster in Erik Kostantski, Mark Thomas, and myself, with all of us starting to peak at the right time, normally averaging 3-5 kills a game. With the potential of four players able to play at that level, I think the sky's the limit for our offense this season. Add that with a deep bench, and it gives us a lot of stability.

Passion: From the first game to the last, every single guy on our team was fired up, and after watching us on film, I think the only teams I've seen with the same energy happened to be in the National Championship the last two years. It remains to be seen if we can keep it going until April, but I feel that this group has a desire, has the goal, and is willing to work hard for it. I've always been pretty motivated, but I found myself playing with a fire that I'm not sure if I've ever had before, being more vocal, feeding off of others and hopefully giving them a bit of a jumpstart as well.

One thing that gets me from this weekend is two words that have been constantly floating around about us: cocky and arrogance. From fans to opponents to coaches, people seem to always use those two words to describe us, and the amount I've heard it in the last 48 hours is quite surprising.

When I think of those two words, two things come to mind. A) People who think they're better than others due to whatever they do, and B) People that think they're good, but don't have the work ethic necessary to match their perception of themselves. We are a loud group. We are confident. We get on the court with a killer instinct. Personally, I want the other team to walk off the court feeling like they had no right to be on it with us in the first place. However, we don't talk under the net. We work our asses off year-round, hitting the weight room religiously in the fall. Myself and others are constantly going to other teams' games to support them, and feel that each sport brings something to the table for the school.

I used to feel obliged to defend our team when people would say these things, but you know what? It's pointless. If a classmate/teacher feels that way about us, then they simply don't know the real us. And if another team/coach feels that way? Stop whining. Work harder. Play better. There are only 85 NCAA teams in the entire country, from Division I to III. Imagine if there was only 85 football/basketball/baseball teams. Can you imagine how competitive it would be?

It is a privilege to play at one of these institutions. I feel bad for the schools that struggle to recruit, but honestly, we're here to win a championship, and if you're on our schedule, I'm doing everything I can to make sure we win that match. Frankly, it'd be arrogant or cocky to do anything less. I used to get pissed off when talented players would start mailing in a game when they thought the win was secure. Giving anything less than 100% is implying that your opponent isn't worthy of your best effort, and I just don't beleive in that mindset at the collegiate level of athletics.

That being said, I hope the teammates have a good break, and can't wait to hit the ground running at our first official practice on January 5th. Off to bed for now, but Part III will be up tomorrow!

Tournament Recap: Part 1

2008-12-08T10:38:00.001-05:00

I wish I could have posted Saturday night, but I was exhausted, and we had a somewhat early start on Sunday, so I proceeded to just crash and get some much-needed rest. (Note: I ended up writing the majority of this yesterday, but ended up having to actually do schoolwork, so I wrapped it up tonight. Sorry for the delay!)

Honestly? I could probably rattle off 10-20 pages about this weekend. However, I won't torture everyone reading and try and break it up piece by piece. Let's start with the results:

There was a lot of excitement going into this tournament. 32 teams, 6 of them being from our conference, one with 3 of our alum, and other random people I knew here and there (A friend from Chicago was actually playing for Cornell - I had no idea he went there! Was crazy to see him). The starters did some reps on Friday, but honestly, that was the only time we had played together during the 4 weeks of preseason.

First match Saturday was against Syracuse. The former setter from Sacred Heart was still there, which I was pleased about because I definitely wanted to settle the score from my freshman year. Syracuse is a big team, but the mechanics are iffy and overall their intensity is lacking. On the opposite end of the spectrum, our team played a pretty complete first game, and despite a couple missed serves beat them 25-15. The second game we were a bit sloppy, trailing 18-13 at one point, but started chipping away and picked up some big defensive stops. We won the game 25-23, with our opposite Josh picking up HUGE roofs on the setter (who now hits outside) both for the first and last points of the match.

The second/third matches were against Georgetown and Bryant (a college from Rhode Island). Although Bryant did manage to steal a game from a sleeping Syracuse, both teams were pretty raw. This allowed us to get everyone some playing time, and everyone really pulled their weight when they were in the game. We won all of these games pretty convincingly, and I even got to set for a couple rotations to let our setter Matt blast away at some attacks! He's got an unreal shoulder, was a blast getting to run the offense a bit.

So we ended the day 6-0, the point differential probably being around +50. After watching film, I had a MUCH lighter load than at Springfield, posting a 9-3-18 hitting line. I had 4-5 aces, matched with about 6-7 errors. DOH! Definitely a streak server, hopefully with repetition I'll knock it off. Matt did a great job distributing the ball evenly, and I feel that it allowed the hitters to keep their arms/legs fresh for day 2.

Day 2: We had a 10 AM match against Central Connecticut to get into the Gold (top 8 teams) tournament, one game, 30 points. They had a decent setter (although we definitely utilized our size mismatch on him on the outside), as well as one or two bangers on the outside. We started this game a bit sloppy, missing quite a few serves, letting balls hit the ground, and being a bit less crisp on serve receive. However, at about the 15 point mark we finally started hitting our stride, putting up a few nice blocks. On top of that, Mark (middle) and Matt (setter) REALLY started gunning their serves, throwing CCSU out of their offense, giving us downballs, and allowing us to make them pay for it. An end result of 30-20, and we're off to the Gold bracket!

Our first match is against Rivier's 2nd team. Unfortunately, Rivier 1 (who still looks very strong) came out flat against Emmanuel in their challenge match, and ended up losing 30-26. A couple thoughts on that: Both teams are in the NECVA with us, and I suspect that Rivier will come out on FIRE when they meet again. Apparently the players didn't know that a loss would send them to the silver bracket. Also, Emmanuel is a VERY big "peaks-and-valleys" team, and although Rivier helped them with about 7 missed serves and probably another 7-10 hitting errors, Emmanuel did what they had to to win the match. Rivier picked up some very strong recruits, and I believe we'll be battling them for the top of our region this season. Looking forward to it, although I was disappointed that a Rivier/Newbury Final was out of the question.

Although Rivier is very deep this year, their second team didn't have the experience we did, and We came out hot from the get-go. Although they made a brief push towards the end of the second game, we pretty much controlled the tempo from the first point to the last, taking a 25-14 25-20 win (first score may be off a few).

This led to a semi-final match against Boston College. I was excited for this one, as they had beaten my squad at the Springfield Tournament. However, with Mark/James/Josh back in the line-up, I knew it would be a completely different story.

We actually came out pretty flat in the first match, I beleive at one point we were down 15-10. However, as usual we kept chipping away, and after some aggressive serving I started hitting my stride hitting both the bic and hut, and with the help of some phenominal defense, setting, and draws from the middle, I put down points 22, 23, and 25 to complete a 25-23 victory. We kept at it in game 2, posting a 25-20 victory that sent us to the finals!

This led to a showdown with Lost Boys, which featured a mixture of Rivier/Newbury Alum. What a match! I watch film to break down/analyze things, but I replayed this one and just enjoyed the rallies. Defense was phenominal, hits were big, strong serving, it was truly what finals should be made of. With some stellar play by everyone, we managed to win the match 25-23 25-21, finishing as the champion, winning all 13 of our sets during the two days.

Part 2 will be posted tomorrow!

Morning of a Tournament

2008-12-06T10:01:00.000-05:00

It's about 45 minutes before we leave for the Boston University tournament (As I'm used to having 9 am start times, getting the afternoon session was being spoiled), and I feel about as prepared as I can be. There are 32 teams in the tournament, including fellow NECVA New England (our region) opponents Rivier (2 teams), Emmanuel, Mount Ida, and Wentworth. Our first match is at 2 pm against Syracuse, and I can't wait! Hopefully the former Sacred Heart setter is there, not that I hold a grudge from losing a 5-setter to him 2 years ago or anything.

Woke up in the middle of the night (4:30 AM), and was awake for a good 2 hours before falling back asleep again. This constantly happens the night before a tournament, so I'm used to it. I went to bed somewhat early, and slept a lot the night before (I always make a note to try and sleep extra the day before, knowing I probably won't sleep too much the next night). I just spend this time visualizing the tournament, jump serving, hitting bic's, tooling people from the outside, anticipating on defense and getting the digs, and anything else that can come to mind. When I finally get to the game, I'm ready to go!

We had our last pre-season practice yesterday, overall I think it went well. It was one of my better practices on the outside, and surprisingly I wasn't sore at all after going pretty hard. Looks like my body's finally getting used to the grind! I'm excited to play middle back for the first time in a LONG time, as I was always left back with my USAV team, and right back for Newbury the previous 2 years. However, I feel like I've done well in practice, and am excited to attack from the backrow, as I feel that's been one of my stronger points so far.

Coach named captains yesterday, and it's a relief to have that over with! She had even said that she had been concerned of not having a leader out there, and although many people do so by example, it's nice to have some organization. Tim, a senior for us, is definitely the spark plug for the team. Countless times we've been flat, and he's been able to jumpstart us with his energy, both when he's on and off the court. Mark, the other captain, is simply a monster in the middle, tallying over 500 kills last year, and looking even stronger in practice this year. I'm happy to see it, they both deserve it!

Expectations today are uncertain. The only thing I DO expect is to go 3-0 in pool play. However, I have no idea how the roster will play out, as she hasn't exactly named starters or a specific serve-receive system yet. With a variety of talent levels we'll be facing off against today, I do think it's safe to say that everyone will get a chance to show what they're bringing to the table after completing our preseason. She mentioned that I will probably spend some time back on opposite, but I think it will be minimal, as I'm starting to hit my stride at the left pin and Josh is coming around quite nicely on the right.

Anyways, time to finish getting ready. Recap tonight! Wish us luck!

Practice, Physical Strain, and Politics.

2008-12-03T15:49:00.000-05:00

After a nice Thanksgiving Break, we were back to the normal grind this week, having practices both Monday and Tuesday. Both went well overall, although I'm still nursing a sore thumb from a bad block, which is making me a bit more conservative overhand passing on defense. It's getting better faster than I had originally thought it would though, and I don't beleive I'll tape it come Saturday, as I don't like how it affects my contact while hitting.

Overall, the team is doing well. We still have struggled to have all the guys at practice (seems like almost everyone's flight was delayed getting back to Boston), so we haven't had more than 10 people the last 2 weeks. It will be a relief to have a full squad on Friday (hopefully), get the starters some reps together, and prepare for the Boston University tournament, which runs this Saturday and Sunday.

There are 30 teams, so it's going to be wide open for who wins it. Our pool is supposively Georgetown, Syracuse, and Bryant (school from Rhode Island?). I hear that Bryant is a bit of a weaker club, but I haven't seen them play. Syracuse had a heavy hitter last year on the outside, who set for Sacred Heart my first year at Newbury, but other than him they didn't have too much firepower. I remember watching Georgetown, but nothing sticks out in my mind from it, which makes me feel like they were somewhere in the middle. Hopefully we take care of business on our side of the net and make all of that meaningless!

My passing is starting to get back to where I want it to be, and I'm picking up more digs at each practice, which means I'm starting to anticipate better. The pleasant surprise of the preseason has been hitting backrow attacks, which I may be hitting better than in the front row. The downside to that is I feel like my front row attacking isn't where I want it to be. I'm hoping that part of it is that we haven't had our starting setter at practice, but I think a bit part of it is simply not snapping down enough. We shall see. Off of practice today, two more on Thursday/Friday, tournament this weekend, then preseason is over!

My body is starting to get pretty sore, but I think it's just part of the grind. You read blogs from guys like Reid Priddy, who talk about how they sometimes wonder how they're going to play later on that night, only to go out and get it done. I keep reminding myself that despite all the soreness I've felt the last two years, I've only sat out one game due to a rolled ankle, and had it been a crucial match I could have suited up. On top of that, this article from ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?page=tisdale-081203) reminded me of how a person's outlook can overcome any physical obstacle. I know I vented about guys like Marbury in my last post, but athletes like Wayman Tisdale remind me that there are still good guys out there.

"You can never give up because quitting is not an option. No matter how dark it is or how weak you get, until you take that last breath, you must fight."
--Wayman Tisdale

Which brings me to the political portion of the blog. As of yesterday, we were thisclose to losing our Spring Break trip, with a couple guys even already talking about what we should do instead of going to California. After finding out that everyone still wanted to go to California, myself and a couple others began hitting the phones, coming up with a plan, and with about an hour to spare did what needed to be done to keep the trip alive. It's going to take a lot of work, and people need to be accountable, but when you want something and work hard for it, I firmly believe anything is possible.

I feel bad, because I do feel like a couple people were being crucified for simply making decisions that 18-20 year olds tend to make due to lack of life experiences. As I told coach, I know that I made similar mistakes when I was that age, and if we're a team, the older players should help guide the younger ones to help them avoid the same mistakes they made. Although this whole fiasco with fundraising has caused some stress, I firmly believe that working together to get back on track will help our team bond in the long run. Plus, when we're on the beach in March enjoying warm weather and playing doubles, I know it'll be all worth it.

I'm going to end the blog there as I'm exhausted from the day, but I wanted to make a brief update on how things are going. I've been enjoying getting my thoughts in writing, and hope that others get something from reading it. I was talking with someone from NECVA (the conference we play in), and after taking a look at my blog he mentioned the possibility of doing one for their website too! I would be very interested in that. I will keep everyone updated on how things go.

Stephon Marbury is a Posterchild of What is Wrong With Sports.

2008-11-28T23:17:00.001-05:00

Quick rant while I wait for my friend to get back from work: All I hear about on ESPN today while watching basketball on the little news ticker is how Stephon Marbury and the Knicks are quarreling. Apparently, Marbury (who had been riding the pine all season due to a me-first mentality) was asked to suit up for an upcoming game due to people getting traded and having a thin bench. The Knicks suspended him for disagreeing to do so. Although he hasn't come up with a defense, he simply said that those EXACT words didn't come out of his mouth, and "the marriage is over, it's done" regarding his relationship with the team.

THEY PAY HIM $22,000,000 THIS SEASON.

I don't care if his feelings are hurt. I don't care if the organization has blackballed him up to this point, and are only using him out of necessity. The man is making more money than most people will see in a lifetime, and if the organization that is paying him says jump, he should say how high. Frankly, money aside, I don't think any athlete should be able to refuse to play for the organization THEY SIGNED THE CONTRACT WITH based strictly on principle, let alone when you're simply being a spoiled brat.

More and more, you see athletes today focusing less on championships and more on getting paid. It's uncanny how well players will play in a contract year (meaning this is the last year before they are a free-agent again), after having terrible years previously. On the same note, it's amazing how hard some guys work, then as soon as they get that big contract, they start mailing it in, playing without the passion that got them paid in the first place.

On top of that, agents are no less to blame. Scott Boras is the devil - I realize it's the nature of his job to an extent, but his greed is in a level of its own. The thing that boggles my mind is the length of the contracts. 6-10 years for men that are in their early/mid 30's, where statistics show they are going to begin to fade within the first few years. How does this make sense?

I don't understand why contracts can't be year-to-year (actually, I do, but the answer is so political and far away from the integrity of the game that I just can't bring myself to accept it). It should be that way anyways! If the player is going to be as good as the agent says they are, then it shouldn't be a concern of theirs to be able to go one year at a time on the negotiating table. Injuries happen. Aging happens. Unfortunately, I can't really sympathize for someone for only making $2 million one year instead of $10 million. It's a privelege to play a sport, something kids do for the love of the game, for an amount of money that if managed correctly will set these people up for the rest of their lives, and they should be put in a position not to forget that.

As for this volleyballer, if I can graduate, head overseas, and make enough to pay off my college loans and bank whatever's left over to possibly put a down payment on my house when I move back to America, I'll consider myself to be the luckiest man on the planet.

Screw you Stephon Marbury.

Home Stretch Before Home

2008-11-28T11:36:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving never ceases to please me. I think of all the holidays out there, Thanksgiving is the one I can always depend on to be exactly what I hope for it to be. I have celebrated it in four different locations in each of the last four years, but the atmosphere almost never changes. Good food, couple drinks, a strong family environment, and sports on the TV. The perfect way to get a break from the normal grind. Especially with what is going on overseas with the terrorist attacks, it is a time to truly be thankful that although we do have to keep our eyes open, we are lucky to not have to worry about that from day to day.

I haven't touched a volleyball in three days, which slowly but surely gets my mind moving in a thousand different directions. At the moment, I find myself thinking about a couple things specifically.

The first is relief that I'm finally starting to adjust to the new physique I'm working with. The first couple weeks I struggled keeping the ball in the court, dealing with a bit more of a pop on the ball than I normally have. Lately, things have started to get more consistent, I've adjusted my snap to compensate, and although I'm still getting comfortable with my shots, I'm confident that I'll be good to go for the tournament at Boston University next weekend.

I had thrown 10 pounds on before preseason due to a pretty strenuous workout regimen. Although the power has stuck around, the weight has not, toning back down to 170 in the last two weeks. It never fails, no matter what I do in the off-season, the weight is coming off once I'm on that court daily. Still haven't figured out whether or not I want to adjust my eating habits to try and counter this, as I know less weight equals less strain on the knees, which I want to preserve as long as possible. Perhaps I'll hit up my physical therapist for a diet after the season.

I can't help but wonder what my role will be on the team this year. Although I've been playing on the outside so far, coach isn't against the idea of me hitting opposite. I want to do what's best for the team, and there are so many pros/cons to both moves, it is difficult to tell she'll settle on. So many players can play multiple positions this season, I suppose it's a good problem to be dealing with when versatility gives a team almost too many options.

I can't wait for the starting line-up to get some reps in together this week. We've been split the entire pre-season, but we're going as one full squad to the BU tournament. That being said, I'm sure we'll be finally putting the starters together to get some chemistry going, and I really think it's gonna go well. We didn't play in the tournament last year, and Rivier ended up winning it, but I look forward to the opportunity to bring the title back to Brookline this year!

Individually I feel this will be a strong season for me. I don't like to put goals on quantity of numbers, so as for kills/blocks/digs, I don't worry about it. However, hitting percentage and errors per attempt are two categories I do keep my eyes on, and I hope to continue the increase on my efficiency. Freshman year I hit .232 at opposite, and after a strong off-season re-habbing a weak arm I boosted that to .288 last season. I feel that I worked harder this off-season that I've ever worked before, and hope that the team's results end up showing that.

I talked with someone high up at the school about a scholarship fund in Coach Dave's name a week ago, and preliminary talks about it went well. Still needs a lot of research/work, but I want to do whatever it takes to make this happen. This is the last team Newbury will have with all his recruits, and I know I'll be using it as fuel to keep moving forward no matter what obstacles we hit all season.

I think that's enough rambling for now. Have a good Black Friday, more updates to come in the next few days.

Being Thankful.

2008-11-27T11:44:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I am writing from Wilbraham, MA, as I have been welcomed in to my teammate's family for the weekend, and so far it has been the rest I desperately needed. Although I'm homesick and miss family/friends back in Chicago, I have felt at home here. His parents are funny (his dad is an AMAZING cook - it's going to be hard to go back to cafeteria food upon my return), his siblings are polite, and the 4 year-old twins are just adorable - shy the first day, always laughing and playful ever since. It makes me miss my little brother that much more, but I know I'll get to see him in a couple of weeks!

Our last two practices were a bit unorthodox - due to people's tests, as well as out-of-state players traveling home early to beat the rush, we only had 4 players both days! Both coaches hopped in, and we played some backrow triples both days. Funny thing is, I felt the level of intensity was higher these practices than the previous one where we were full force!

A couple thoughts have crossed my mind regarding pre-season so far. I will start with as a team. We are definitely searching for an identity at the moment, and I had a good talk with coach Tuesday that confirmed my initial feelings regarding the first couple weeks of practice. She admitted that she isn't coaching now how she will coach in January, and supposively a couple of guys were not happy with how difficult the first week of practices were. Looking at it from an outside perspective, I believe we need something in the middle.

The first week of practices were high-intensity, hard conditioning, and relentless. I had worked out 5-6 days a week for a good 2 months before pre-season to prepare, and it was taking its toll on me as well. However, I didn't mind any of it. What I think wore people down was the fact that we had 4 days of practice, a day off, then the toughest tournament we've played during my time at Newbury, as well as the fact that we did it with split-squads.

It is easy to get discouraged going a combined 2-10 your first pre-season tournament, especially coming in on your high horse after finishing last season ranked 6th in the nation. I think the frustration for some was that practices were being conducted in a manner that dealt with the big picture, which didn't necessarily prepare us for the upcoming tournament. Since then, practices have not had the conditioning, and when we're in a scrimmage-type drill, if one team starts pulling away, it seems that the other side mails in the remainder of the drill, instead of pushing back as they did the first week of practice.

I hope that the second half of pre-season finds a happy medium. I do feel that more emphasis can be on volleyball than conditioning, but not at the risk of the crispness of the drill, if that makes sense. I'm very optimistic for this, I feel like this semester has been heavy on many of us, and the break will recharge the batteries so we can hit the ground running come Monday.

Yesterday Mark and I hit the YMCA, did some exercises/stretching in the heat pool, hit the sauna, showered and headed back. We talked about the team and this season more than we have previously, and it was a pretty good conversation. He's got a great head on his shoulders, and match that with his physical ability, he has a great shot of getting All-American this year.

Time to shower up, call family back at home, then enjoy the festivities of the day. I hope everyone has a good holiday, and will update in the next couple of days!

Patience is a Virtue.

2008-11-24T11:37:00.001-05:00

Laundry on a Monday morning... time for a blog!

I find myself hesitating to write daily due to the difference it makes waiting a few days to let things clarify themselves. It is easy to get caught up in the emotion of events as soon as they happen, but it's amazing how quickly one's perspective can change after letting things calm down for a day or two. That being said...

Thanksgiving break is a day away, and personally, I cannot WAIT. This semester has been the most difficult one I've encountered by far on so many levels, and a week to recharge the batteries sounds pretty good to me! Shout out to my teammate Mark Thomas and his family for taking in this homeless kid for the holidays - plane tickets were absolutely ridiculous to go home, so this is a nice Plan B.

Practices have been... different to say the least. I think I'm coming to grips with the concept of this being a "transition period". When I knew Dave would no longer be coaching us, I continued to tell myself that it was important not to make that the case this season, but I realize how unfair that would be to expect the new coach to pick up right where he left off. That being the case, I've been just observing things in practice, getting used to the new situation just as she has.

Still, I can't help but find myself wishing things were a bit more competitive. The first week, everyone was firing on all cylinders, happy to be back on the court, looking to show coach what they could do. Now? It's more for fun, goofing around, lots of laughing, but also quite a bit of sloppy play. I think that part of the reason is because a couple players are already home for Thanksgiving, but its still well below the level that the remaining players can hang at. We were supposed to go three hours yesterday, and practiced was called before the 2 hour mark, because it was just getting worse and worse.

For now, I guess I'll continue to do my best the next couple days, enjoy a nice break, and see how things go when we all get back.

Battling the Inner-Demons.

2008-11-19T16:20:00.000-05:00

It's been 3 days since my last post, and believe me, there have been plenty of things to write about. However, one of the difficulties of writing a public daily blog is making sure to avoid letting emotional thoughts overcome the logical and reasonable ones. Had I written the last two days, it probably wouldn't have been pretty, and I most likely would have had to edit it as it was all simply the initial reaction of events that occurred.

I will say this: It has been a battle coming off of this weekend. As noted in the previous blog, despite the rough results of the first tournament, I was in high spirits and ready to work out all the kinks in our system. However, when the first two days back in the gym were mostly goofing around and sloppy play, I found myself in a mental funk about it.

I have been on many teams with many types of different coaches. This is the first time I've been on the same team with a coaching switch though, and that being the case, I find myself battling thoughts that I've never had to deal with before. You find yourself comparing drills/methods of instruction to the previous coach, and the worst part is in the end you realize how unfair that is.

So far, coach has done a great job with us, and I realize that it will take her awhile to get used to us, just as it will take us awhile to get used to her. So far I'm a bit impatient, but I do see the light at the end of the tunnel. She sees things that haven't been addressed before, like our offensive plays mostly shifting to the leftside of the court, instead of mixing it up to keep the defense honest. We've never had someone with the ability to see things like that before, and I'm excited for her to start implementing a system that addresses things like that.

Although I was disappointed with the caliber of the last two practices, she admitted that she had been mostly observing up to this point, but will start being more vocal on things she wants to fix because frankly some things have been pissing her off. She also made a comment referring to how she wanted us to have fun and thats why she had been easy on us up to this point, but things need to change. I think both sides will be fine with that, because most of us have fun anyways with harder practices that are more competitive.

We have today and tomorrow off, and Friday we go back to work. I look forward to getting down to business, working on getting things fine-tuned so that we can show people at the BU tournament that the Springfield results were a fluke. Individually, I've struggled a bit physically as my lower back is bothering me from the strain I put on it this weekend, and the result is a lack of snap to my jumpserve/swing. As the core is where you get most of your power from, I haven't been able to really generate the normal force I get when attacking the ball. More importantly though, I find it affecting my movement when serve receiving, which is what concerns me the most. However, I've been stretching every morning and evening, and icing after practice, so perhaps the two days off are all I need to get back to where I want to be.

Off to dinner, then writing a paper and finishing a take-home midterm. I may not write until Friday, but perhaps something will pop in my head tomorrow and I'll throw it on here.

Losses on Paper, Gains Regarding Intangibles.

2008-11-16T20:24:00.000-05:00

I was hoping to put up a post earlier, but frankly I've been too busy to do so. After the tournament yesterday, I uploaded the video and watched it a bit, took hitting stats, and made some assessments that I couldn't really focus on while playing.

Although the other team split with Elms and Springfield B, they finished 3rd in their pool. Still, that was better than our 0-2 losses to Set Me Boston (Strong, tall, great blocking AA USAV team), Springfield A (Filled with most of their starters from last year's national championship team), and Boston College (A decent club team, but had we not ran out of gas we should have won the match).

I feel like as a player I'm growing. I probably haven't gone 0-6 on the day for a good 4 years. Even the last 2 years, I feel like I'd be focused on what everyone else wasn't doing right, or the overall results at the end. However, I find myself focusing on the things we did well, the improvements I can make individually, and the things I learned as a whole for the day. I found myself hanging with teammates last night, goofing around and laughing it up. Last year after losses? Forget about it. Sit by myself, listen to music, reflect on my own. I'm really doing everything I can this season to not do that, and so far, so good!

As a team, we did have some strong points. Our coverage was EXTREMELY strong, which hasn't always been the case during my time at Newbury. Although our defensive coverage was a bit off as we haven't really had time to work on it in practice yet, I felt the block was closing, and although we weren't getting a TON of stuff blocks, we did force the hitters to go where we set the defense up. Although we didn't end up winning any of the games, we kept the majority of them close, and had a few strong 4-5 point runs. I look forward to building on all of these things, as well as fine tune the rest.

Individually, it was a tough one. I'll nit-pick to start: WAY too many hitting errors. However, watching the film, my arm swing is MUCH stronger after an off-season in the weight room. I always have swung deep as it was, and now I'm finding myself hitting out of bounds a lot more. Of all my hitting errors (19 to be exact), only two were in the net, the rest were sailed out of bounds and being blocked. Also, my jump serve was TERRIBLE, I felt myself getting "conservative" by not following through with my arm swing, which resulted on sailing the ball out of bounds about 5-10 feet each time. The few times I went full-tilt, they stayed in bounds. Lesson learned: Go hard or go home. Defensively, I felt like my positioning was a bit shaky as well, but hopefully once we start going over our system again, I'll avoid making those mistakes again.

My hitting line was 34-19-90, which is a .167 percentage. I hit .288 last season, so it's a far cry from where I'd like to be. The good news is, my shoulder feels like I didn't even play, and of those 90 swings, AT MOST 10 of them were off-speed. For 6 games, a 5.67 kill per game ratio is well above what I'll be doing this season, when the starters are together. Frankly, I'm relieved, because I'll take a 3 kill per game average with wins over 5.5 with the loss anyday.

Springfield looked strong, but if that's the national champions, I'm optimistic that we can give them a run with our starters. They beat us 30-18 each game, but both of them we were neck and neck til about the 20 point mark, and with our big guns in the game, I have a feel we could have even swept them. Actions speak louder than words though, perhaps we'll get our chance in the Final Four come April!

Anyways, enough rambling about the weekend. It was rough losing all day, but I feel it was a good learning experience for the team, and I'm excited to get to practice tomorrow!

Waiting...

2008-11-14T23:09:00.000-05:00

Very brief update, because I need to get to bed. Day went well overall, met the guys at Roggie's for some team bonding, and when we got to the Stadium for the Celtics game one of the guys couldn't find his ticket. I was a bit tired anyways, and so I gave him mine and headed back home. They ended up losing, I watched on TV, I'm sure I'll get other opportunities in the future to see them play.

So once I got back, I did a little film, watching some clips from last season, as well as some footage I had of strong outsides (Gustavo Meyer, Victor Batista), as well as my favorite libero playing left back (Ryan Stuntz). Heated the back/calves, stretched, then took a shower and organized my bag/clothes for the morning.

Looking forward to tomorrow. Mentally I'm where I need to be, and feel like tomorrow will be a good day regardless of the outcome. Just excited to get on the court with the boys and begin playing! Update tomorrow night if I'm not dead with the results. Wish us luck!

Last Practice Before Springfield, Celtics, Overall Thoughts.

2008-11-14T01:35:00.000-05:00

Well, I sit here early Friday morning with no interest in going to bed. After a good day Thursday, and two more coming up, my mind is racing a mile a minute. Let's begin with a recap of our final practice before the big tournament!

I had been a bit sore earlier in the day, and my calves were a bit tighter than normal. I felt like I wasn't getting too good of a jump on Wednesday, so I came in early to heat and have the trainer stretch out my hamstrings and calves. I could tell before I even got out of the trainer's room that it was going to be a big improvement from the day before, and luckily that turned out to be the case.

No conditioning today, which was nice, because I was tired of playing after 100+ pushups! We did a couple "hitter's challenge" drills, then moved on to a straight-up scrimmage between the two squads that are playing in Springfield's tournament.

It's an interesting split. On one team, you've got three of the top hitters. The team I'm on seems to have stronger serve-recieve, as well as the starting setter. We end up playing very evenly, using two completely different styles. However, both sides are extremely competitive. We won the game 32-30, but it could have gone either way. I think it'll be a tough tournament, but both teams should get some great practice out of it.

I enjoy it, because it pits me against arguably the two best blockers on the team, both who touch higher than 11 feet. The first couple days I was getting roofed pretty badly as I struggled to find my timing, and today I did get blocked a fair share of times, but overall I found myself being much more effective. I realize that Springfield are the defending National Champs, but I honestly think my two blockers can't possibly be stronger than what I practice against. I look forward to sparring with them all season!

Serve receive felt MUCH better today. Maybe they cleaned the floor, or perhaps I was just anticipating better, but I felt my movement was much better today. The outside on the other team ripped a couple jump serves I didn't pass all that clean, but overall it went well. Defense felt good too, although it's going to take me awhile to get used to blocking the middle from the outside again. Practicing against a monster doesn't help, but to be the best you have to beat the best. Hitting timing was on for the most part, although on freeballs I found myself getting a bit too aggressive and over-running the set. Still, there's definite progress, and I should be good to go Saturday!

Tomorrow we're going to dinner as a team, then going to the Celtics game! I can't wait for a couple reasons. Not only have I never been to a professional sports event in Boston, but I get to finally see one of my favorite athletes, Kevin Garnett. Although his stats don't always show it, his intensity and ability to boost his teammates is virtually unmatched in sports. I'll probably end up watching him the entire time! He's one of those athletes you hear about where Television doesn't do justice for what they bring to the table. Hopefully I'm not setting the bar too high, I'm optimistic about it.

So a good practice today, Celtics tomorrow, and the tournament Saturday! Time to get some sleep, but I'll have an update Saturday on how things went.

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly - Day 3

2008-11-13T00:50:00.000-05:00

The Good - The team's energy/overall play. It's the third day of pre-season, and we haven't shown any letdown on intensity. Today was the first day coach unchained us, with one conditioning drill to start, followed by scrimmaging the rest of practice. The guys are really starting to come along, with blocking being strong, setters starting to mix up hitting more, and VERY strong serves. I think our serving will be a huge asset to our season, as a lot of us have strong jump serves, with some guys mixing in some tough float serves. Hitting is still a BIT shaky, but there are a few guys that have played much better than expected at the net, and I think the people that are struggling a bit will be fine with more repetition.

The Bad - Lower back/Shoes! Although I know it's gonna be fine, I did feel it was a bit tighter than normal today. Add the fact that we've been doing a ton of sit-ups, which kill my spine as it sticks out and grinds against the hardwood floor, and I find myself just a BIT conservative on my swing/jump-serve. After taking IB Profun virtually every day to fight shin splints last season, I'm really working hard not to take anything unless absolutely necessary this year, and so far I can't complain for the most part.

More importantly though, my shoes have virtually NO traction left. We've ordered new shoes, but our tracking # isn't really updating us right now, and I have no idea if we'll get them before the tournament, which worries me because I can't really change direction on defense quickly, let alone take as aggressive of an approach as I'd like. I can't wait for the new shoes so that I can move a bit better on defense.

The Ugly - Timing! At the end of last year, everything was clicking with the setter, no matter where I was taking the approach from - outside, rightside, or backrow. Although I realize that a) It's the third day of practice b) I'm making the move from rightside to outside for the first time in about two years, and c) We're still working on finding the right set, I can't help but be a bit disappointed with how slow I've come out of the gate in regards to hitting. There are a few times where the timing's just right, and I'm ripping the leather out of the ball. Overall, I find myself INCREDIBLY early, jumping straight up as a result, and almost always finding hands with my swings.

It's slowly getting better, but with the tournament coming up Saturday, I find myself struggling to be patient with the process. Although I'd love to bore readers with the technical jargon that flies through my head regarding the mechanics, I'll save that for another blog, and just say that I look forward to shaking off the rust and picking up where I left off last year.

Off to bed, last practice before the Springfield tournament tomorrow, need to get some sleep so I can make it count!

Day 2!

2008-11-12T00:30:00.000-05:00

Second day of pre-season was today, and although I was a little sore this morning, I didn't feel as bad as I had originally feared I would. I remember last season my shin splints started about the 2nd or 3rd practice, so I made sure to do extra stretching to try to avoid the same fate this year.

Conditioning: Still a lot of push-ups/sit-ups. My abs are burning tonight! Still, everyone talks about how important the core is when playing volleyball, so I don't say that as a complaint. We had a lot of drills tonight that involved chasing down freeballs, but their purpose wasn't COMPLETELY efficient as for whatever reason it seems a lot of our pro-touch volleyballs are missing... That's as much complaining as I'll do about that. It was still nice to do some sliding across the ground, although I skinned my hip already with one sprawl. It is what it is.

Playing: Actually did some passing today, so that was a nice change of pace. Nothing in-game though. I really hope we do serve-receive tomorrow, because we're only 4 days away from the Springfield tournament! Started the scrimmaging hitting outside. Was attempting to work on the shoot, but just wasn't happening, and the block was having a field day with me. The ball was a little inside the antenna, which I was struggling to adapt to, as I take a very sharp approach when running shoots. However, I started to heat up a bit once we went back to a hut-like ball to the pin. I suppose it makes sense to start with a higher ball, then speed it up as the timing comes back. Blocking went alright, although there weren't all that many opportunities to do so. It's gonna be awhile before I get used to that, as I blocked MUCH more frequently when I played opposite.

2 more practices, then an off day, then the big tournament at Springfield! We're splitting into two even teams for it, and it seems like as coach gets to know us, she's starting to figure out how she's going to do that. I'm just excited to get on the court and see what Springfield is bringing to the table this year. Off to bed, I'll have an update tomorrow night.

First Practice - Recap

2008-11-11T02:14:00.001-05:00

Well, I'll have to keep this one short, as conversations with people back here have already kept me up way longer than originally intended. After what seems like an eternity of waiting, we got together for our first preseason practice of the year!

Conditioning: Although we didn't do too many conditioning drills, the ones we did were pretty strenuous. One of them lasted about 10 minutes and consisted of 120 pushups and 200 sit-ups. Yikes? I could barely hit the ball for the next 10-15 minutes as my arms worked on un-flexing. A couple sprint drills here and there, as well as some jumping drills. I didn't hydrate enough, because towards the end of the 3-hour practice I could feel my left calf begging to cramp up, and about 5-6 others had the same problem.

Playing: We did a couple passing drills, hitting lines, then scrimmage-like scenarios. With this being the first time coach saw everyone, egos were in play and the competition/energy was FIERCE. I felt everyone looked very good, and the chemistry/team bonding seems better on this team than the previous two years.

Personally, I didn't get to do much backrow work. Coach wanted me hitting in every drill, which I didn't mind, but I could tell my approach was getting fatigued towards the end. This year I've transitioned from opposite to outside, and although I played outside most of my career, we run a very fast offense and it's going to take me awhile to get it down. I was VERY early on my shoots today, which led to jumping straight up and having the block get a lot of playable deflections. I'll stay patient though, it's only day 1, and overall I was pleased with how I played.

I'm off to bed for now. We practice for only two hours tomorrow, so hopefully we focus mostly on volleyball, as the tournament at Springfield is Saturday and we need all the repetition we can get. A quick stretch before hopping into bed, then hoping my body isn't broken when I wake up!

At Last!

2008-11-10T08:31:00.001-05:00

Only 6 hours before practice. I doubt I'll be able to focus in class.

Went to an open gym with a couple teammates Friday night. Was really pleased with how everyone played. More importantly, the team just gels better this year than the previous two. Last year, we were ridiculously deep, but we were practically split into two cliques. This served for good purposes when we would scrimmage, as neither team would be willing to take a play off to give the other team an edge. However, it saddened me to realize we went an entire season without one team get-together with everyone... that's just not healthy in my opinion. I think this year's team will be much more close-knit, and that will most likely help in our cause.

Individually, I'm very excited for this season. I feel like I'm in better shape than the previous two seasons, and not by a small margin. The things that normally concern me, my blocking and shoulder stamina, have been really strong. The irony is, my passing feels a bit shaky, and that's normally my bread and butter. I think that the time away from playing to work out had a small effect on it, but I hope that with 6 practices a week, it comes back quickly.

It'll be interesting to see how the body holds up this season. Although I haven't had an injury that's kept me out of any matches in my two years here (knock on wood), I did deal with a weak shoulder all Freshman year, and shin splints last year. I'm hoping that this off-season will keep me from dealing with anything like that, but I'm certainly not getting any younger, and although I'm only 23 I do put quite a bit of mileage on the body.

Anyways, I should start my day. I'm sure I'll have an update tonight on how it went.

Calm Before the Storm.

2008-11-05T21:07:00.000-05:00

Well, we're heading into the home stretch before preseason, and I couldn't be more excited. Unfortunately, the season for the women's team I coach came to an end yesterday, which was sad to see. They worked very hard, and it was sad to see the career of the seniors come to a halt. However, with 10 returners, I know they'll be even stronger next year.

It'll be interesting to see where I fit in the equation. Being a 23-year old student, I'm pretty easily replaced from an administrative perspective. I feel that I brought some good things to the table, but ultimately it's not up to me to decide. I suppose time will tell. Regardless, I enjoyed my time with them and am happy I was able to hop on board with them halfway through the season.

That being said, time to start focusing on my own season. I put in a strong fall in the weightroom, bulked up (you'll sense the sarcasm in a second) to about 175, which is 10 pounds above my typical playing weight. Played in a couple open gyms, and it didn't seem to have any negative effect on my game, plus my shoulder felt as good as it's ever felt.

It seems as if all the drama about fundraising is coming to a halt, and the team can finally concentrate on volleyball. I find myself visualizing it more and more, getting on the floor, stretching with the team, working on drills, and building chemistry with the lineups. Coach seems to have a pretty good head on her shoulders, I'm interested to see what she has in store for us.

4 more days!

Missing Coach...

2008-11-04T11:21:00.000-05:00

This post is a day late, but frankly I didn't have the energy to write it. Unfortunately there was a scheduling error and although my schedule said the girls' practice was from 6-8, it was from 8-10. Wasn't too pleased about it, but actually had a great talk with the trainer for about an hour and a half. We have pretty similar philosophies for sports in general, and it was nice to talk shop with him until practice.

Yesterday marked the 3-month anniversary of Coach Dave's passing, and I still find myself struggling to come to grips with it. If it wasn't for Dave, I have no idea where I'd even be. After watching a highlight video I put on myspace, Dave messaged me and asked if I was looking to play college ball. Although I was on the fence about it, he flew 1000 miles to watch me play at an open gym, and afterwards we grabbed a bite to eat, and just started to talk about the school. He clearly had a passion for the team, as well as a vision.

He had already taken them from losing 55 straight games to being nationally-ranked, but continued to bring in more talent from all over the nation. Dave may not have a ton of individual success as a player, but I'm convinced he recruited better than anyone in Division III (sorry opposing coaches, just my opinion). His energy made me beleive, and with that, I verbally committed to coming to Newbury.

Since coming to Newbury, I've found myself with more direction/motivation than ever before, and a large part of it was due to Dave. I used to sit in his office for hours talking about whatever was on our mind that day, and although we had VERY different philosophies, I probably have never had a better "agree to disagree" relationship with anyone, and it's probably why I found myself in his office so often.

Although I felt I was handling it alright this summer, I found myself wandering around campus the first few weeks of school like Ron Burgandy walked the streets with a carton of milk, disoriented and unsure where to go in my free time. I'm finally starting to cope with it, although I don't think I'll ever be the same.

Showering, heading to lunch, class, then off to the 4:30 bus for the girls' quarterfinal match of the conference tournament, then homework if I have any energy left.

R.I.P. Dave, you're never forgotten.

Busy Week: Head Coaching Debut, Raffle Tickets, and the Upcoming Preseason.

2008-11-02T20:02:00.000-05:00

It's already midnight here, and I feel like the minutes moved like seconds today. Sundays are usually my day of rest, which is probably why I wish they were longer. We had Open House today, so the campus was a bit more lively than usual. A recruit from Northlake, IL was in town for it and gave us a verbal commitment, so that's exciting. I look forward to hitting a couple open gyms with him this Christmas break. Pretty crazy to think that next year we'll potentially have 5 people from Illinois on the team!

Tomorrow I'll be missing the compliance meeting with our Athletic Director, and this concerns me, as supposively our trip to California is in jeopardy. Although I'm sure we'll come to an agreement to make it work, he's concerned with the effort of the guys selling raffle tickets to fund the trip. A little under half have stayed on track, while others have strayed from the plan. Part of it is because half of us are from out of state, and it simply takes time for the money to come in the mail. However, I'm sure we could be working harder, and as long as we give him some sort of proof that we're doing our best, we can make it work. I'd love to be there to say that, but I'll have to rely on the teammates to do so. Not too worried about it, they all have good heads on their shoulders, I'm sure they'll make it work.

Had my first official head coaching experience yesterday, on account of a family situation with the regular coach. It was definitely not what I expected. A complete roller-coaster of a day, with just about every situation you could imagine. Losing the first set 25-13, proceeding to win the 2nd and 3rd (the latter being 25-9), then proceeding to go up 17-10 in the fourth set only to have the other team rattle off a 15-2 run to send us to a fifth game, which they pulled off 15-12. We ended up getting swept the next match, but proceeded to play better each game.

It's a tough situation, especially when you're simply filling in. Also, there's just so many things you can take for granted as an assistant. Do I take a timeout when the other team is up 5-1 to stop the bleeding, or do I risk burning them too quickly so that I need to resort to subs late in the game? How are girls going to react to substitutions? How are the girls going to react in general to certain tones? When you don't have a second coach for them to turn to in the event that they don't agree with you, there's a risk that they'll shut down on you.

All that said, the girls worked hard and I'm pleased with the effort they showed. They made the conference tournament, and with the head coach returning for it, I have high hopes for it.

One week from preseason! I'm excited to get started... I'm still a bit concerned about my lower-back, but as long as I continue to stretch a couple times a day I think it'll keep me out of trouble. I hit an open gym Friday (I know, quite the wild Halloween for me) and everything felt great, although the serve receive was a bit rusty. The guys have been buzzing about this year, and it'll be nice to get back to work. It should be a pretty competitive season, as most of the guys I've talked to from other teams have been boasting about strong recruiting classes. Although some people would look at this as a bad thing, I think the more talented the teams we play, the better prepared we'll be for the tournament at the end of the season, so hopefully they live up to the hype!

I need to wrap up some homework, more updates later this week.

Coaching Inspirations.

2008-10-29T23:33:00.000-04:00

It's been a few days since I last posted, and with good reason, as I've gone to bed as soon as I've gotten home most nights. I find myself wide awake tonight, visualizing tomorrow's match that Lasell has vs. Babson. The girls will be facing a tough opponent, but they have a never-say-die mentality, and I believe that if they give their all the whole match and stay away from getting down on themselves, they could easily pull off the "upset".

This has been my first coaching job that wasn't on a volunteer basis, and it has been a dream job so far. The girls work hard, they all get along, and there are no egos to battle. I've never seen any team like it! Although only 23, I have my coaching philosophy in place already. I've been reading autobiographies on coaches since I was 17, starting with John Wooden, and more recently finishing Tony Dungy's. Each book has given me more insight on what is important to me and what is not, and I hope that although I'm young, I'm able to make a positive contribution to the team.

So what do I believe in? Effort. Poise. Hard work. Selflessness. Wins and Losses come into play, but the means of how we achieve both is what concerns me. Of all the things I learned from John Wooden, it is that we can only strive to be the best we can be, and if we do that, we can consider ourselves successful, no matter what the scoreboard says. The funny thing is, the team that puts forth the most effort ends up winning most of the time anyways, which probably explains why John Wooden won 10 National Championships in 12 years with UCLA.

I feel it is not only important to put forth your best physical effort, but also be as mentally tough as possible. If you don't believe, you can't achieve, and the beautiful thing about sports is anyone can win on any given day, regardless of what the odds may be. Look at all the cinderella stories sports have. I read Lou Holtz's book "Wins, Losses, and Lessons", and feel he had such a good grip on that concept. He continuously took losing programs and turned them into powerhouses, and he did so by changing the mentality of the teams. "What the mind perceives, the body achieves" was his saying, and that stays true with me today.

John Chaney ended up tarnishing his reputation when he sent in a bench player in a basketball game to foul a player hard, which resulted in the fouled player breaking his arm. The sad thing is, although there was terrible judgment on his part when sending that player in, overall he was a very good coach, as well as a hell of a speaker. Although my father taught me the importance of setting goals at a young age, Chaney nailed the point home. I remember his retirement press conference, when he boomed "Don't give up on young people, because they don't fail you. I've never had a young person to fail. They don't even know how much they can give, I don't care how much you ask them, how much you beg them, how much you plead with them to give more, they don't know what they can give until it's done, until it's over. You keep asking for more, you keep raising that ceiling, keep raising the floor, so that they have a chance to make it."

This statement never left me, and I find myself continually raising that bar for my players, never settling for where they're at. As soon as I settle for where someone's at, I've failed them as a coach, because I don't think it's realistic to say "well, so-and-so can't possibly get better", and it's my job to make sure they make the most of their time under me.

I hope that the lessons I teach players on the court will stay with them off the court. As a player who was a nobody in high school, who didn't think he could go anywhere, who had one coach completely change he looked at himself and how he approached sports, I feel that it's my obligation to see the potential in everyone, as my coach saw in me. And so far, the results have been great.

11 days until pre-season begins. I love coaching, but can't wait to play. I'll publish an update from my thoughts as a player in the next couple days.

Introductory Post

2008-10-26T14:36:00.000-04:00

As I sit in my dorm room enjoying a relaxing Sunday before going back to the normal grind of school, work, and other Monday-Friday obligations, I can't help but daydream about the upcoming season. I keep telling myself not to count the days, but the closer we get, the more difficult I find that to be. There's so much potential...

As this is my first post, I should probably give a brief background to anyone that decides to read. First off, who is this blog geared towards? To be honest, a large reason I'm doing it is for myself. With all the things I have going on with my life right now, I find it somewhat therapeutic to be able to get my thoughts out of my head and written down (or typed in this instance). On top of that, I've always found myself looking at other people's experiences and beliefs as coaches, players, or spectators, in order to further develop my own. That being the case, I figured that this blog could be used by high school athletes looking to play in college, aspiring coaches, or just volleyball fanatics in general.

So who am I? My name is Bryan McDermand, and I'm currently a Junior at Newbury College. I play on the Men's Volleyball team here, as well as coach the women's program over at Lasell College. I'm a 23 year old originally from Palatine, IL, and I'm currently double-majoring in Finance and Sports Management. I plan on graduating in the Spring of 2010, at which point there are many different directions I could end up heading in. In a perfect world, I'll be somewhere in Europe making a living playing volleyball. Time will tell.

What do I plan on writing? It will probably be a day-to-day process. Ideally, I'll be updating the blog each day, but realistically I'm sure there will be times I just want to crash and write later. The topics will be pretty much all geared towards the volleyball portion of my life, both as a coach and player. Sometimes I may throw a little blurb about something else, but most likely in a manner that discusses how it affects my season. If I end up getting any sort of on-line following, I'd be up for using posts to answer questions/messages I have, whether it be a response to a previous blog, or just picking my brain about something.

For now, I have quite a few things on my mind. As for the Lasell team, although I'm excited for my own season, I am bummed that theirs is coming to an end shortly. I've only been on board for about three weeks, and it's been a wonderful experience. They have 12 players on the team, and every single one of them get along with each other, no cliques or anything. I've never seen anything like it. Also, the head coach has been very warm in her welcome to me, and has helped me learn a lot during the short time I've been there. Their record isn't the greatest, but numbers don't show the hard work they put in, and they recently had a strong 4-game win streak, and have a good shot of making the GNAC Conference Tournament, at which point anything is possible. We shall see! For now, this was a one-year contract for coaching, but I really hope that they invite me back. I've worked hard, and feel that I've made positive contributions, but keep in mind that as a 23-year old, it isn't hard to replace me with someone more experienced. I'm just being realistic about the possibilities, and continue to give my all so that no matter what happens, I can say that I gave the team my best effort.

As for my own season, It's going to be difficult not to write too much each time, because I can honestly go on and on about it. For now, the big focus for me is last-minute preparations for the pre-season. I've put almost 15 pounds of muscle on since coming back this fall, which was nice as it's been too long since I took an off-season to just hit the weights. I'm a bit concerned about my lower-back as I crunch hard when I jump serve and attack the ball, but hopefully taking up yoga will help.

The team in general is ready. This is my third year playing here, and by far we've all worked harder than we ever did in previous off-seasons. It would have been really easy to become content with finishing 6th nationally for Division III last year, but it seems like that only inspired everyone that much more to do everything we could to try and win it all this year. I feel that everyone gels much better than previous years as well, and feel that if we continue to do what we're doing, the sky's the limit.

We're heading to California for Spring Break, and although the fundraising for it can be stressful (I'm blessed by being surrounded by a large group of supportive friends, but I HATE asking people to buy raffle tickets, which is what we have to do), we're all very excited for the trip, knowing that the best competition is out there. I've never been to California, and look forward to the overall experience. For now though, I need to raise the money to make it happen. Ah, the joys of being a Division III athlete.

15 days until preseason. We'll have 4 days of practice, a day off, then head off to Springfield for a tournament, which I'm excited for, as Springfield won the National Championship last year, and it'll be a great gauge on where we're at and what we need to work on. For now, I'm heading out to play some Grass ball, enjoying the warm weather while we have it!