Club volleyball team’s history ranks among top

The IU men’s club volleyball team might not have the same record of dominance as the men’s soccer and men’s basketball programs, but its history ranks among the top of all IU sports.

“Our alumni list is very long, and men’s volleyball is a club sport that goes back to the late ’70s, early ’80s,” said John McSorley, club president and senior.

With history dating back four decades, the 2008-09 IU men’s club volleyball team is looking to carry on the tradition into the spring season.

The Hoosiers have played in four tournaments this fall with their fifth and final one coming this weekend in the Notre Dame Irish Invitational. With a 12-7 record, the Hoosiers have been playing well.

“We are really pleased with the fall season,” McSorley said. “The Michigan State tournament was a great gauge for our team as we finished tied for fifth out of 32 teams.”

In club volleyball, the fall season serves as preseason for each team with the spring accounting for the more important regular season.

The 2009 spring season includes an alumni match and two more tournaments before the Big Ten Championships on March 14 at Michigan State University. The final campaign for the IU men’s volleyball team will be in April at the NIRSA Collegiate Volleyball Championships in Kansas City, Mo.

Unlike other club sports, there is no qualifying for the national tournament. The only rule is the team must sign itself up before the deadline. Instead, the tournament is then split up into four divisions where teams are divided based on rankings from the spring season.

The IU “A” team finished 16th last year at nationals in Dallas.

The spring season is also home to a major tournament for the IU men’s volleyball team. The 2009 Hoosier/Illini Classic will be held in February at the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation building. This is the sixth year for the tournament, which is run by both IU and the University of Illinois club volleyball teams.

“This is the biggest regular season tournament for club volleyball,” said Andrew McClure, vice president and junior. “Forty teams are in the tournament and all are ‘A’ teams except for both Illinois and us who have our ‘B’ teams in the tourney.”

The men’s volleyball team has an “A” team and a “B” team because of the size of the program.

The prestige of the tournament speaks for itself as the winners of the Hoosier/Illini Classic from 2005-2007 went on to win the National Tournament later that same year. The 2008 Hoosier/Illini Champion, Illinois, was also the 2008 national runner-up.

Due to the lack of Division I men’s volleyball teams, the competition level for the club teams remains high.

“There are not many Division I varsity teams, so everyone plays at a high level, and at the same time it does not take up too much time to participate in it,” McClure said.

With the fall season almost behind the Hoosiers, it is time to look ahead to the bigger stage and the regular season. McClure said that the “A” and “B” teams are the strongest two teams he has seen since he’s been at IU, and McSorley echoes a similar message.

“We had a really strong fall and that was without two of our better players who are studying abroad this semester. So they will be back in the spring to go along with our young players,” McSorley said. “We feel our team chemistry has gotten better through every tournament, and we just can’t wait for the regular season to get here.”