Fairfax, Va. - The New Year is here and with that we celebrate the beginning of another NCAA men's volleyball season. For Mason, it was a busy and exciting offseason –Jay Hosack replaced Fred Chao at the helm of the program, former Patriot Joe Norton returned as his assistant, a large incoming class of six players was introduced to the system, and several guys came back from injuries which limited their involvement last season.
After months of lifting at 7:30 a.m. three times a week and countless hours spent in the gym learning the new coach's philosophy and carving the new image of the program, the team's home opener – first in three years – against No. 5 UCLA last Tuesday in the packed RAC Gym was a fantastic opportunity for the Patriots to start the season with a statement win that hint the team's undeniably bright future.
Although Mason competed for the majority of the match, they could not upset the Bruins. As the opening week, progressed, however, it became more and more clear that the loss to UCLA was due to the chemistry and experience in the Bruins' squad rather difference in talent. Coached by the head coach of the U.S. men's national team John Speraw, UCLA completed the week with a 3-0 record – also defeating Ohio State and Penn State – and moved up to No. 2 in Monday's American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
As for the Patriots, their immense potential was apparent even in a 0-3 week. Given that eight players on Mason's 17-man roster – freshmen Kyle Barnes, Seth Blevins, Will Calaman, Bryant Ekstein, Aaron Cymbor and Justin Coleman, and redshirt freshmen Garrett Kollar and Langston Payne – had not featured in a collegiate match before the start of the season, while the best defender in the opening week Johnny Gomez missed the majority of last season due to injury, it's nothing short of marvelous that the young and jet-lagged Patriots competed at the level that they did against the top two teams in the country – No. 2 UC Irvine and No. 1 BYU – despite flying cross-country to Utah only the day before.
“Some people would have been intimidated to start their season against such tough opponents, but not us,” said junior outside hitter Christian Malias, whose 38 kills during the opening week were most by any EIVA member player and earned him the EIVA Offensive Player of the Week award. “Instead, we decided to play without fear or reservation and to play at our highest level.”
Malias comes in this season after playing as a libero for the majority of the last, but his impressive performances earned him a spot on the court in all 10 sets during the week and at times left Jack Wilson, Radoslav Popov and Paco Velez, Mason's top three scorers from last year, on the bench. The Patriots' attack, which is orchestrated by the 2015 EIVA Newcomer of the Year, now-sophomore setter Brian Negron, received an additional boost in the offseason by adding high school standout outside hitter Barnes, who may look as a long-term option, but also showed that he can hold his own against top competition at the next level.
“A lot of people are thinking, “why are you scheduling such touch opponents?”, Hosack said after Mason dropped out of AVCA's Top 15 despite being tied for No. 14 in the preseason poll. “My response is, “First of all, the previous coach made our schedule before he left. Second of all, and most importantly, I would have done the exact same thing because I want to schedule the best opponents I can. In order to be the best, you have to beat the best.”
Obviously, it takes time to create “the best”, and for now Hosack is mainly concerned about progress, which he already sees.
“Watching video with the guys, in the first match against UCLA, we were at 23 all and we missed on six opportunities to capitalize on some points,” Hosack said. “When the guys saw that, they freaked out a little bit, and then I showed them the third set against BYU, when we didn't make that many errors, we played tough volleyball, and we had a lot of heart.
“I told them that the thing that excites me is that UCLA was not our third match, but it was our first match, and we have gotten continually better, and that's how you want it to be,” he added.
The Patriots have a big weekend ahead of them and an opportunity to build momentum from the corner they turned against BYU, when they won their first set of the season. Now they take their first road trip and continue their tough schedule at No. 7 Ohio State on Friday before opening conference play unusually early in the season, when they visit EIVA newcomer Charleston (W.V.). The “hot hand” at the moment and one of the team's three captains, Malias, embraces the upcoming challenge and firmly believes that his team can bounce back from the negative start.
“Our 0-3 record means nothing to us,” he said. “We know that we have made improvements at every opportunity we have had thus far and I know that we will walk into Ohio State ready to compete and battle once again.
“I am confident in this team and we are ready for another opportunity to prove ourselves.”
