Volleyball looks for first win of season against Gauchos


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The No. 15 men’s volleyball team continues MPSF play with their 2016 home opener against No. 9 UC Santa Barbara Thursday night.

Off to their worst overall start since the team’s inaugural season in 1970 and their worst conference start since 2005, the Trojans (0-4, 0-2 MPSF) remain confident that they will break into the win column at home.

“We have the pieces,” junior libero Vinnie Rios said. “We’re putting ourselves in position to win and if we’re able to stay mindful of the opportunities we have, we’ll start getting ’em for sure.”

Staying mindful has certainly been the theme of the week. After Tuesday’s practice, head coach Jeff Nygaard said, “We need to focus on what we’re doing on our side of the net [and] being way more mindful of how we’re approaching the game.”

Meanwhile, the Trojans prepare for a hard-serving Gauchos opponent (5-2, 1-1 MPSF) averaging 1.88 aces/set. Star senior, two-time First-Team All-American setter Jonah Seif has come out firing again this year with career highs in kills/set (.73), hitting percentage (.581), and serving-aces/set (.62). In preparation, the Trojans have worked hard on digging ability against a “revved-up” serving machine, as Nygaard called it.

“We’re facing some guys with live arms,” Nygaard said. “And if we don’t see [the speed] consistently, we’re never gonna catch up to it.”

To win on Thursday night, the Trojans are going to need their key players to have big games. Look for senior middle blocker Tommy Leonard, starting in place of injured Preseason Second-Team All-American Andy Benesh (back), to build off of two solid performances last week in which he averaged 7 kills, 4.5 blocks and a .348 hitting average. Also keep an eye open for the Yoder tandem. Sophomore setter Jack leads the team with 103 assists, 44 of which have gone to his cousin, junior outside hitter, Lucas.

In the uber-competitive MPSF where any team can win on any given night, Jack Yoder says the difference maker is “the amount of energy we bring on [Thursday] night.”

He adds that the team will “absolutely feed off the energy of the home crowd, the band especially,” to give them a necessary boost into the winning column.

The Trojans carry over a six-game home winning streak from last season into Thursday night’s home opener versus the Gauchos, and despite the slow start, Trojan Nation remains completely optimistic. After all, the team remains nationally ranked and gained invaluable experience on the road versus four vicious opponents (No. 10 Penn St., No. 7 Ohio St., No. 12 CSUN, No. 2 Long Beach St.).

As Rios puts it, Thursday night is a chance for the maturing Trojans to “show fans what we’re really capable of, and getting a win is the best way to show ’em we’re still here to compete and looking for that national championship at the end of the year.”