The men’s club volleyball team has been practicing three times a week for their upcoming spring season since September. With guidance from Head Coach Brett Crandall and Assistant Coach Jim Crandall, the club has become a well-established program in New England. Brett has been involved since the start of the program in 2008 as the assistant coach and took the head coaching job two years later. Crandall started assisting the team in 2010. The team competes in the New England Collegiate Volleyball League (NECVL), where division placement is based on talent, and our Judges compete in Division I. Nationally, the team is currently ranked 24th in Division II, where division placement is based on school size.
In November 2015, the team hosted their annual Turkey Tournament. This tournament consists of 10 to 12 teams competing from the varsity level to the club level with schools from all over the region. The Judges placed third in the entire tournament, taking sets from Assumption College, Daniel Webster College and the University of Vermont, as well as a single set from Boston University, showcasing talent from the newest players on the team in Kevin Vallejo ’18 and Wyatt Emenaker ’19.
Last week, the team faced off in a scrimmage with UMass Lowell, taking the match 3-0 at home. Jake Shafran, a graduate student, tells us that he is most excited for “showcasing our talent and winning New England.” The best the team has placed in New England is fifth and Shafran believes they can do better. “This season we have all the right tools to win,” he adds. The club has “become a more encompassing program” that builds friendships off the court. “We are all really good friends. We get dinner and hang out off the court, which makes the on-court cohesion that much greater,” states Vallejo, who just started playing volleyball last semester. For Vallejo, the “team camaraderie” and “being able to enjoy myself with people I see regularly” is the best part. He also confesses that he “feels more active on campus and using my time more productively.”
Phillip Cooper ’18, who has played since his first semester at Brandeis, shares that his skill as a player has “improved exponentially,” coming from no previous experience to now being the starting middle hitter. He tells us he enjoys “getting the chance to do something that I love more and more and hang out with people I enjoy spending time with.”
The team competed in their first in-season tournament, the Marty Open Tournament, this past weekend. The team traveled to the University of New Hampshire, where they faced Fairfield University, Northeastern University, Bryant University and Tufts University. They ended the weekend with a record of 3-1, taking wins from Fairfield, Northeastern and Bryant, but falling to Tufts with a close score of 23-25. The team travels to Boston College this weekend for their first Division Tournament. After, the Judges compete on Feb. 13 in their second Division Tournament hosted at Brandeis.
The team welcomes all newcomers; previous experience is preferred, but not needed. Practices are held in Gosman Gymnasium on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9-11 p.m. and Fridays from 3-5 p.m. The men’s club volleyball team encourages anyone interested to attend a practice and come out to support the Judges on Feb. 13 in Gosman.
