Men's Club Volleyball Begins Season

One of the more exciting teams to watch on campus is the Men's Club Volleyball team; coming off a MAC Conference Championship last year and a 2007 National Championship. The season started the second week in October with tryouts and will go to the second week in April. Senior Captain Mike Walker said "This year we have a good mix of experience to youth."

He is speaking of the eight seniors that are on the team, accompanied by eight freshman and two sophomores. Interestingly enough, the team has no juniors. Walker says that he is excited for this season because of the team chemistry and how much they get along.

"We have a strong senior group, who have been with us since the beginning," continues senior Tyler Toews, [there's a lot of] young new talent," using the starting first-year labero, Justin Beachy, as an example.

The team has only played in three tournaments so far this year. The first occurred down at James Madison University in Virginia and the squad made it all the way to semi-finals. Unfortunately, they lost to a men's graduate team and finished third in a field of sixteen.

The second tournament occurred November 14, at Messiah, in Hitchcock Arena. The all-day tourney hosted a field of fifteen. Teams in attendance included ten college teams and four men's teams from both Virginia and Pennsylvania. Because the team from Temple University was a no-show, Messiah took the opportunity to allow some of their younger players more playing time-they split into Messiah A and B teams.

There were three initial pools, with the A team in the first pool and the B team in the third.

The A team won their initial pool, but ended up losing in the second round. Walker says, "The team has played solid, while missing some players".

Toews called it a "tough tournament that showed the depth, because of the competition we faced. There were D1 teams and men's teams, and they all really challenged us."

The B team, comprised of mostly underclassmen, allotted a huge jump in playing time to many of the underclassmen.

First-year player Clint Martin said it was a "good opportunity to get more experience at the college level, because I was able to play all day on the B Team."

When asked about how he felt coming onto the team this year, Martin says "I feel privileged to be on a team that has done so well in the past and hope we can do as well or better this year."

On December 5, Messiah traveled to Penn State to take on 23 teams--the field was comprised of collegiate club teams from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, and elite men's teams. After becoming one of only two collegiate teams to make it to the top eight, Messiah took the title, winning in 2 games, with scores of 25-23 and 25-22.

Walker later said, "This tournament was a HUGE win for the team because the competition at the tournament was incredible. Everyone on the team contributed significantly to make the tournament a success."

The expectations for the rest of the year are clear. Walker says, "Our goal is to win another conference championship and perhaps another national championship."

The team is excited and focused. The plan is to celebrate another national championship. C'mon Messiah, it's time to get excited for this team!