Easy weekend at home for men’s volleyball

Easy weekend at home for men’s volleyball
January 9, 2011
 After a semester where the Varsity Reds did not have a home game, they were home for the first time hosting Memorial to a doubleheader.

This was a true team effort as all players saw time on the court with UNB dropping MUN 3-0 on Saturday followed by another 3-0 straight set win on Sunday.

The Varsity Reds opened up the scoring in the game Sunday with the first point of the match, never looking back taking the sets 25-17, 25-15, and 25-19 with Andrew Costa being named the player of the game for UNB.

Head coach Dan McMorran is pleased with the weekend even with it being an easier weekend after coming off the Christmas tournament in Toronto, facing top teams in the country.

“Playing against Memorial wasn’t as tough as some of the teams we played against in the Interlock and in our exhibition at Christmas time, but they a different style of ball which is they set the middle a little differently cause of the people they have so it took some patience from us,” he said. “We’re used to a few different systems , but theirs is just another to adjust to.”

The men’s team has now hit a .500 win percentage with the wins over the weekend, almost ensuring no possibility of the winless Memorial Seahawks taking second place. McMorran knows they have found themselves in a good position, but need to work on things in the middle.

“We’re not as good in the middle as we need to be,” said McMorran. “I just said that in our team meeting. Our setters and our middles are going to have to commit to two more individual sessions per week from now on. We’re not clicking like we need to be in the middle and that is a big factor for us. Right now we are not crisp enough right now in the middle and that’s where we need to step things up.”

That being said, he was pleased with players stepping up this weekend as all 14 players saw time on the court.

“These weren’t charity minutes,” said McMorran. “Our guys still need to be performing, but it gave us an opportunity to check out some guys in positions if we need them to fill in down the stretch.”

The Varsity Reds are now off until January 21 when they travel to Halifax for the third and final Interlock tournament of the season. Their next home action is not until February 12-13 when they host Dalhousie for a doubleheader for Think Pink Week.