“At the end of the day it’s a desire to keep that underdog mentality throughout the tournament”
After finishing sixth in the Eastern Collegiate Volleyball Association’s North Division 1 championship last weekend at Siena College in Loudonville, New York, the Gee-Gees men’s volleyball team clinched a berth in the association’s Division 1 championships in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The Gee-Gees will be making their second appearance in as many years at the tournament.
The Gees are scheduled to play Alabama, John Hopkins, and North Carolina State during Saturday’s round robins — three teams they have yet to see this season. Gees head coach Yacine Amalou agreed that walking into these games blind is a challenge, which makes it “hard to gauge their strengths and weaknesses” when scouting solely through game tape.
When asked about the competition, Amalou said he expects most teams to be very good, and to have star left-side hitters who will serve as the opposing teams’ “offensive weapon[s].” Amalou continued to talk about the scouting, saying “we try to focus on our end and scout enough to at least have our serving targets ready ahead of time.”
The Gee-Gees played in two provinces (ON, QC) and two states (MI, NY) throughout the season, which Amalou highlighted as a difficulty. “The biggest challenge of playing in [multiple jurisdictions] is definitely the different standards in officiating, lots of changes to the rules are happening to the game and its been hard to juggle the difference in refs.”
Beyond the difference in rules and officiating, the travel has played a large role in the team’s season. “My boys are phenomenal for managing the amount of travelling we do,” said the coach.
He further explained that the team has done eight road trips, spanning anywhere from four to 12 hours away, in addition to one local event. “It’s definitely not easy,” Amalou acknowledged, “but I do think [we] enjoy each other’s company which makes every road trip a fun one!”
Amalou spoke glowingly of the team’s depth, which he says is imperative to get the team through tough situations. “We play a lot of games per day, the same guys can’t be expected to play and perform all day.”
He went on to talk about the team’s up-and-down season. “We fell short in a lot of our goals this season — but at the same time, we’ve won against nationally ranked teams! We know we can beat the best, but we just have to keep that hunger and desire to upset [higher-seeded] teams.”
And just like the upsets we see every year in the NCAA’s March Madness, Amalou agreed “at the end of the day, it’s a desire to keep that underdog mentality throughout [the tournament]” which will be of best use for a lower-seeded team.
The round robin takes place Saturday, beginning with a match against Alabama at 3 p.m., followed by John Hopkins at 4 p.m., and finishing with North Carolina State at 6 p.m. The games will be streamed live on the team’s YouTube channel.
