Best start in 8 years: Men’s Volleyball Opens Their Season Successfully

Clarke Men’s Volleyball has opened their season 3-1 for the first time since 2018, marking the best start in 8 years. The young team won their home opener last Tuesday against Viterbo University and travelled to Indiana for three more matches over the weekend. This early success was underlined by historic awards for two players on the team.

Team Celebrating after their first victory // Athletic Department Clarke University

When they took to the court for their warmup last Tuesday night, there was excitement going through the Kehl Center. A new era for men’s volleyball has begun, and they were about to prove it on the main court only minutes later. Led by their new Head Coach, Marvin Fong, together with his Assistant Coach, Justin Hernandez, and Graduate Assistant, Kainoa Gerard; the coaching staff had prepared the team for the last 6 months for this moment.

The team started the match with a close win in Set 1, before going on to lose the next two. They found themselves down 1-2 in their season opener but welcomed that challenge and stormed back to win the last two sets 25-16 and 15-10. This marks their first season opener win since the 2022 season. With the support of the softball team and more fans, the team celebrated the tiebreak win in the Kehl. Coach Fong stated afterwards,though, that the team “still hasn’t proven anything” and that they are going to keep on fighting for more wins. 

They are currently ranked 11^th out of 14 teams in the Heart of America preseason poll; men’s volleyball is determined to “prove everyone wrong” and work their way up the conference win by win. They continued that when they travelled to Indiana for the “Showdown in the Woods,” where they won 3-0 on Friday night against Park-Gilbert, putting up an impressive 45 kills in just 3 sets. Followed up by another 3-0 sweep on Saturday the team went 3-0 before losing to St. Mary in the Woods in a close matchup. 

Their 3-1 record, the best start for the team since 2018, also saw multiple players awarded for their performances. Libero, Jason Romero, was voted to the All-Tournament Team for the Woods-Invitational, where he had 77 receptions on only 2 receiving errors and 2.64 digs per set. Benjamin Reiser, junior setter from Germany, received his first career Heart Setter of the Week award of his career this week, having a total of 132 assists, which is 9.43 per set and adding 20 digs. The most awarded player after the successful start was Tanner May. The senior middle blocker was not only Top 5 in hitting percentage in the nation, but also received Heart Attacker of the Week and Clarke Athlete of the Week honors. 

The team looks to improve their record and add on to their good start when they start conference play against the 11^th in the nation, Grand View University, on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 7PM in the Kehl Center.