A spontaneous idea became reality last week for the Longwood men’s volleyball club, as they made a gruelling 16-hour trip to participate in this year’s NCVA Collegiate Club Volleyball Championship in Kansas City, spanning April 13-15. The trip marked the team’s first national tournament appearance.
Brian Craven, men’s club volleyball president and mastermind behind the idea, ran the operations and decision making during the entire process. Knowing all the factors and costs involved, he managed to pull everything in place and make the trip happen.
“I’ve been planning on this all year and I didn’t know if we were going to make it or not,” said Craven. “We had to have everything in by January; the forms and the payments, and we did it.”
Paz added they wouldn’t have been able to make the trip if Craven hadn’t stepped up to put it all together, and gave him the credit he deserved.
“He had an idea and he went after it,” said team member and therapeutic recreation junior Coleman Paz. “Nobody can take credit, really, it was all him.”
According to Craven, the three-day tournament featured over 400 men’s and women’s college club teams separated into different divisions, with Longwood placed in Men’s Division II. During the first two days, teams competed in pool play, moving to bracket play on the third. Bracket play consisted of gold, silver, bronze and copper brackets, based on where a team finishes in pool play.
The NCVA is a non-profit volleyball organization that holds this event every year, in which club teams from colleges around the nation apply, but are not guaranteed a spot in the tournament.
The team hosted fundraising nights, including bowling, multiple Chick-Fil-A spirit nights, and yard work in Richmond which went straight toward the entry fee, which was $950, said Craven. Other costs included travel, totaling around $1,400, and hotel, totaling at $1,500. They also created a “Go Fund Me” page to raise money for additional costs, in which they raised $1,455, according to Craven.
The 14 team members were housed in the Westin Crown Center hotel on the Missouri side of Kansas City. The players said, impressed by the accommodations, it offered stunning views of of the city, plenty of food options, and was conveniently a mile away from the convention center where the tournament was held.
Paz noted the tournament brought people from different parts of the country with the same interest together.
“The experience was awesome, there were so many different teams we got to see and make so many friends,” said Paz. “Living in that kind of setting, meeting new people was so easy.”
On a typical game day, the players’ call time was around 11 a.m. to eat breakfast and prepare, then take a trolley to the convention center, according to physical and health education teacher education sophomore Aaron Campbell.
Craven said the tournament consisted of two time waves for teams to play in. One slot went from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., while the other played between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Longwood competed during the later time slot, playing two to three games per day with a small break between each game.
Craven said he noticed some nerves among the players for the first few matches, but their starting lineup eventually found their rhythm.
“They were right where I thought they would be, we could’ve done a little bit better,” said Craven. “I think we were nervous and worked up in the beginning, but by the end we found our way.”
According to liberal studies freshman Alex Flickinger, some people on the team didn’t have experience playing volleyball before college, saying it showed the team could still qualify for major events without vast experience. Additionally, Flickinger hopes the club team appearing at nationals will garner attention from students on campus and have a positive effect on the sport of volleyball at Longwood.
“We hope we can get more guys out and be more active on campus,” said Flickinger. “If we can just keep getting people to come out, keep producing results and going to nationals, we can just build off of that.”
Craven noted there has been more player turnout for the men’s club volleyball team this year, allowing them to have two teams versus one – A and B – unlike past seasons.
After facing stiff competition during the two days of pool play, Longwood qualified for the Men’s Division II Bronze bracket. After winning the first round of playoffs, their nationals run ultimately ended with a semifinal loss.
All players agreed that it was a successful trip, and coined the hashtag “#RushVB,” calling for students to join the team, regardless of experience. Craven added he hopes to continue improving the team by adding more players, and bringing the team back to nationals.
Men’s volleyball club president Brian Craven organized the team’s first trip to the national competition, held in Kansas City from April 13-15.
