By
Connor Doyle
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Men's volleyball thrives despite anonymity
Athletic achievement is a point of pride for the University of Arizona. Like those of many other schools with similar success, the athletes involved in the programs are minor celebrities in a small town with no professional sports franchise. Those teams that are successful are generally lavished with love and respect from local fans and students and often play in front of large crowds adorned in red.
One team is the exception to this rule, however.
Few are aware of the most successful program on the UA campus for the past couple of years has been the UA men's club volleyball team.
They have won back-to-back National Intramural Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) National Championships, have played and defeated some of the top varsity programs in the nation and have dominated their regular season match-ups with highly ranked club teams.
Yet, they rarely have more than 30 fans at their home matches. In fact, it's safe to say they're among the least recognizable athletes at UA, a place The Princeton Review called the nation's "top jock school."
There are several reasons why they aren't that popular. Their club status takes away many of the trappings that varsity teams have, like state-of-the-art facilities, a full-time training staff or widespread publicity. They play most of their home games in Bear Down Gym, one of the least comfortable venues on campus for fans.
For various reasons, they don't have many home matches.
Varsity programs will rarely travel to play them, and the majority of the regular-season games are played in various tournaments held around the country. Like many other club teams, they don't receive that much attention from the press, most of which focus on the school's more high-profile varsity sports.
However, the team's lack of public support hasn't hurt them financially. They are able to offer scholarships to their players, as well as field both an "A" and "B" team. This is due to the fund-raising efforts of assistant coach and club director Skip Greenberg, who has been able to corral donations from various private companies to supplement the moneys the team receives from the Campus Recreation department.
The financial situation of the team can be both good and bad. The scholarship money allows them to recruit players much like a varsity program would, as well as travel to more tournaments than other teams, but there are also undertones of resentment from other club teams around the country who don't believe that UA plays on a level playing field.
"The other club teams on campus are definitely supportive and wish there were more situations like ours here because they all know how hard it is to raise funds," says senior Ryan Taylor. "But the other volleyball club teams around the country resent us because they have to play us and we're better than them, and they think it's because of the money."
Other teams aren't the only ones who seem to resent UA's financial success. NIRSA, midway through the season, informed the team that they were going to be forced to play in the newly formed "open league" division during in the tournament, which at this time only contains eight teams.
The feeling from Taylor and the rest of the team is that the league was formed because many believe that UA has an unfair advantage over the other club teams in the tournament.
To make matters worse, UA's best competition in the country, Utah Valley State College, will be playing in the Division I field, where UA would be placed without the new league. While Taylor notes that UVSC probably didn't support the creation of the new league, they seem unwilling to come and play in the higher division, as they are now the favorites to win the Division I championship with UA out of the picture.
Throughout all of this, however, the players have kept their focus and have continued to play at the highest level. This is both a testament to their pride as a team, and to their head coach Steve Carlat, who has been involved with the program since 1963.
Carlat's players demonstrate a great amount of respect for their coach.
"(Carlat) is a guy who definitely goes into each match looking to win," says sophomore outside hitter Turner Elliot. "He keeps us motivated and pushes us in every match or practice."
Carlat is not only a motivator, however. His players laud his ability to teach the game.
"He is the best techniques coach I've ever had in any sport. He can watch one play and tell the passer, the setter, the hitter and even the other players who didn't contact the ball what they did right and what they did wrong, and what to do different next time," says Taylor.
Carlat says he feels the team has a responsibility to themselves and the Tucson community, to perform at their highest level. "There are boys' high school volleyball teams in this city who have no role models but us. We want them to think about playing at Arizona when they graduate."
Elliot says he believes the quality of the team keeps the motivation to continue winning high.
"The most rewarding thing about playing is knowing you are a part of one hell of a good team, and knowing that going into each match you are the team to beat," he says. "At times it can be a bit time consuming, but when it comes down to it all, it is definitely worth it."
Andrew Jaekle, a senior outside hitter, has a slightly different take on the rewards of being on the team.
"Sometimes it is fun to be the most underrated sports team at the U of A," he says. "We have a better record than any sport, girls or guys, at UA - even softball."
There's always a catch with the type of success that the men's volleyball team has experienced, however. "The realization that we are still just a club (is disappointing)," says Elliot. "We compete during our season with the best Division I schools in men's volleyball but at the end of the year they go to play in the NCAA tournament and we go to the NIRSA tournament."
However, the reward at the end of the season - an opportunity to become National Champions for the third time - allows the players to look past all of the small problems with the system.
"Winning the National Championship last year in Reno and destroying rival Utah Valley State (was exciting)," Elliot said. "Having won it in Reno - and having one hell of a celebration afterward - made it even more incredible."
Jaeckle says the team's T-shirts say it all: "Back to Back National Champions."
"Read the back of the shirt, and then tell me how we can't be the number one team at UA," he says.
A few weeks from now, the team may need to update those shirts.
