Men’s volleyball wins big in Reno

By Logan Jones

Utah State University’s men’s volleyball club capped its most successful season in school history on Saturday with a first-place finish in the silver bracket of the 2014 National Collegiate Volleyball Federation Championship.

USU beat out DePaul University for the top spot, winning both sets of the final match by a 2-point margin.

“A lot of the team members had family come watch,” said junior Jesse Laverty, “so our cheering section went wild. We have a mostly level-headed team, so our celebration was contained until after we left the court.”

The Aggies were ranked second in the field of 48 division IAA men’s club teams at the start of the tournament, but lost their opening game against Temple University on Thursday.

After beating Boston University and the University of Houston, USU began Friday’s pool play with a loss to Cal State Fullerton, followed by consecutive victories over the University of Oregon and the University of Utah.

“We earned a spot in the silver bracket,” said Chris Hunsaker, a junior setter for the Aggies. “We knew our matchup with Navy wouldn’t be easy.”

The Aggies beat Navy 27-25 and 25-23 to advance in the elimination round on Saturday. USU then beat the University of New Hampshire and Texas State University by equally narrow margins and held off DePaul to win the silver bracket.

“There was just the gold bracket above us,” said club president Bryce Hunsaker, “but both games we lost were early morning games, so we’ll just blame those losses on a lack of sleep.”

Laverty said he savored the victory, knowing next season poses a big challenge for the club.

“That was the best finish we’ve had,” Laverty said. “Unfortunately, half of our starters are graduating at the end of the semester, so next year could very well be a rebuilding year for the team.”

Most of the team’s recruiting is done by word-of-mouth, with a tryout in the fall and what Laverty terms a “mini-tryout” in the spring.

“The team will still be good,” Laverty said. “We’ve just got to find new people willing to come play.”