The off-season is no time to rest, and the BYU men’s volleyball team is hard at work preparing for the upcoming season.
“Man, we’ve been doing a lot, actually,” says freshman setter Robbie Sutton. “We hit the weight room a lot, and…off-season practices have really been able to get us back into playing shape.”
The Cougars reached a #1 ranking on their way to the national semifinals last year, but the team fell short of their ultimate goal.
“BYU has always had a great volleyball program,” says Sutton, “and so our expectation, our goal, is to win a national championship.”
Returning All-Americans Russ Lavaya and Taylor Sander will lead the way, but it’s the little things the team works on together that will determine its success.
“So the little things…are what kept us from achieving our goal last year,” says sophomore Jaylen Reyes. “You know, one point here, one point in this match, and maybe we’re in the Final Four last year.”
The Spikers are focusing on conditioning and team unity to take the next step this year and hope fans are ready to be entertained.
“Just get ready for a show,” says Reyes. “We’re gonna be really good this year. We have two high-flyers on the team…and hopefully we’ll win the national championship at the end of the year.”
And you know Cougar fans are always ready to cheer their team on to victory, hopefully all the way to a national title.
The Cougars will put their hard work to the test January 4th when they kick off the season against rival Hawai’i right here at the Smith Fieldhouse.
