With seven state champion banners hanging in the Pierce gym, the men’s volleyball team has a heavy legacy to uphold, but this past season has only reinforced their determination after they placed fourth in the Western State Conference.
Business major Lucas Yanez, 18, and Kinesiology major Corey Pitt, 18, both volleyball team’s players, feel that their team’s performance during the year was on par with the other teams.
“There is not a team in the state that we couldn’t beat any other day,” Yanez said.
Pitt and his fellow teammate Leo Granato were both redshirted this year, meaning that they were not allowed to play but trained with the team to maintain their eligibility with the team.
“It was hard sitting on the bench, watching your team lose and not being able to do anything about it,” Pitt said.
Head coach Eddie Stanislawski felt the team was well balanced this year. Competing in the harder of two conferences, the Western State Conference rather than the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference, made winning the championship tough.
“We had control of our destiny,” Stanislawski said.
Athletic Director Bob Lofrano is familiar with the team’s high standards and felt the team played hard all season.
“They competed well during the year, but faltered at the end,” Lofrano said.
The team hasn’t made the playoffs in the last two years, but that hasn’t crushed Stanislawski’s hope of a victory next season.
“There’s always the shoulda-coulda-wouldas,” Stanislawski said. “We will have a good team next year and are looking forward to our new gym.”
As for the most valuable player this season, Lofrano feels that John Griffith stood out. Stanislawski mentioned that Alex Jones did as well, but Yanez feels that everyone came through at one point or another.
“There isn’t one reliable person on the team,” Yanez said. “Everyone stood out at some point to help the team in different parts of the season.”
While Yanez and Pitt see this season as a learning experience for a young team, and that there needs to be more team bonding to build trust and communication, they can’t wait to get going for next season.
“I’m really excited because I’ve been sitting on the bench the whole season wishing and thinking how badly I wanted to play,” Pitt said. “Next year, next year.”
http://info.piercecollege.edu/departments/athletics/mnvolley.html