The IU men’s club volleyball is currently ranked second in the nation.
The team lost to its biggest rival Wisconsin – Oshkosh last year in the national semifinals, but is very excited for their upcoming season.
“We are very confident in winning this year’s National Championship because our team has grown even stronger over the last year,” said team captain Ryan Sullivan.
Since the team does not have a coach, Sullivan runs practice and develops different practice plans for each week. The team only gets two hours of practice time, two days a week. They used to have three hours of practice times a week, but due to the fire and remodeling of the HPER building, the team was allocated less time to practice.
When the team is not training in the gym, the athletes play on sand volleyball courts and spend time working out in the pool.
Sullivan is a fifth-year veteran of the team and has seen many drastic changes over the past few years. He claims he resembles Rafael Nadel because of his long hair that he likes to wear in headbands.
There is no formal recruiting process for men’s club volleyball, but they do attend “Rec Fest” every year to try and attract potential new members. In order to support their team’s funding, many members of the team line judge for IU’s women’s volleyball team.
“Our team is extremely close,” junior Jake Goldberg said. “Even when we’re not practicing, you can usually still find us all hanging out together.”
The team drives individually to tournaments, which helps form this brotherly bond.
Off the court, many members of the team are involved in different fraternities, clubs, and are women’s volleyball practice players. The team’s majors mostly consist of Sport Marketing and Management, Sport Communication, and Business.
They regularly play against Ohio State, Notre Dame, Wisconsin – Oshkosh, and the University of Illinois.
The volleyball season does not officially start until the spring, but preseason is quickly approaching. The first preseason tournament starts this weekend, October 7 at the University of Missouri. The team only lost two of its seniors, and is expected to make it to the semifinals again, but this year, they are prepared to win it all.
