This past weekend, Augustana’s men’s club volleyball team traveled to St. Louis to compete in their Nationals. The team didn’t do as well as they wanted, as they were placed in the Divison I bracket.
With Nationals being the most important competition of the year, senior captain, Grant Garvey, explained the preparations the team took.
“We practice two to three times a week either by ourselves or with the women’s team. Some days are more productive than others, but we usually spend a majority of our time doing serve receive, hitting lines and some base defense drills,” Garvey said.
Senior Riley Ferguson also explained preparations and some changes they had to face.
“We worked pretty hard to adjust to a change in the team dynamic as we realized there were only going to be six of us traveling to St. Louis. Practices increased to us consistently meeting for two-hour practices three times a week,” Ferguson said.
With both Garvey and Ferguson being seniors, they both had unique perspectives and similar reactions to the end of their year, and their respected years in whole.
“Being a senior has been pretty bittersweet. I’m really good friends with everyone on the team, and it’s going to be hard to not play with them anymore,” Garvey said.
Ferguson agreed with Garvey.
“It was a unique experience for me, I started playing volleyball at the beginning of last year. These guys have taught me to love the sport and enjoy our time on the court. I’m excited for the guys who will be playing next year and to see how they will step up in Denver,” Ferguson said.
As far as expectations for Nationals went, the boys were hopeful but also realistic. Ferguson talked about their shortage of players.
“Despite being low on guys, we went out and played extremely well given our circumstances. We were all forced to play positions we were uncomfortable with, and to play at a certain level while knowing we weren’t going to have subs,” Ferguson said.
With the team being cut down to only six players, the chemistry between the boys are stronger than ever.
“Team chemistry is amazing. The majority of us hang outside of volleyball practices as well so you could say we’re all pretty close,” Garvey said.
Even though these senior leaders are moving on, it’s just making more room for the upcoming players.