Reds’ rebuild looks promising

After 24 straight seasons of Dalhousie winning the AUS title, the UNB men’s volleyball team will be starting off this season with more playing time prior to the regular season. They hope this will help prepare them for what challenges this season may pose.

Their preseason schedule not only has them playing at home twice, but is filled with court time that will have them ready for the regular season. They will start their preseason by bringing the CIS silver medalist Trinity Western from British Columbia in for two matches Oct. 19 and 20.

Trinity is expected to be one of the best teams in the nation again this year, so the team is going to get a taste of the level of play that will be expected in order to succeed this season. “It’s kind of like jumping with both feet into the fire right away, but it’s what we want to do,” said Head Coach Dan McMorran.

The team had to be restructured this year after suffering a few major losses on the court. Ryley Boldon will not be back, after using all five years of eligibility, and neither will team captain Brett Watson. Although Watson will not be on the court this season, he will join the team as an assistant coach.

After a disappointing end to last season, the Reds were busy in the off-season adding a handful of new recruits. Players joining this year’s roster include two Fredericton athletes, Marc White and Robert Young. Also joining the roster is Clarenville, Newfoundland native Brett Ledrew.

A familiar face to the UNB team will be joining the team this season. Matt Sweet, UNB rookie of the year two years ago, was injured in his second season but will be back this year. Sweet is looking to be stronger than ever before to help the team both in the back row and offensively.

“He is returning to our program this year after basically a year of training,” said McMorran.

“Matt was going to be an exciting player two years ago. He is showing up at training camp and he is a very exciting player right now, so we’re really lucky it is a good catch or pick up for this year.”

There will also be three new players joining the team as Redshirts. Jordan Brooks is one of these new faces, a left side player with good athleticism. Logan MacNeil, another left side player from Nova Scotia, will bring his provincial team experience to the program. Rounding out the group of Red Shirts is Josh Crouse, who has a lot of potential as a libero for the team in the future.

With the new roster set, it looks to be a promising year for the men’s team. Their rival has always been Dalhousie and this year UNB looks better than ever for defeating DAL.

UNB’s team from three years ago was the closest to defeating DAL in the AUS Championships. Since then the last two years have been spent rebuilding, the coaching staff believes this year’s team is ready to take on the challenge.

“I’m probably more excited about this team and the potential this team has then I was three years ago with the squad that was ranked seventh in the country,” said McMorran. “We want to be the best team; we know we’re better this season.”

This season looks promising for the Reds, so long as they do not encounter any player injuries.