This pre-season, the team the Baruch men's volleyball team has been practicing, working out and bonding more than ever so they can be both mentally and physically prepared to defend their CUNYAC championship.
Last year's MVP, Jesus Echevarria, left the team this season, leaving a freshman from Hawaii, Danny Olson, to fill in his position.
Unfortunately, Olson was away for three weeks having surgery. Because of this absence,
Nick Smith, sophomore and last year's libero, had to fill in at the last second in an unfamiliar position. "Having to switch positions so quickly was more exciting than nerve racking.
Even though it wasn't easy at first, the coaching staff and my team especially consistently had my back and trusted me which made the transition a lot easier," Smith said.
Ray Satagaj, a freshman player last season who contributed to the team by playing often and being a great blocker, transferred out of Baruch to a school in Connecticut, leaving his spot without a replacement.
One of last season's star players Pablo Oliveira, who received much recognition over the course of his years playing with CUNY like Division III All American, CUNYAC All Star, and CUNYAC Rookie of the year, will not be returning to the team this season
The team has already had its fair share of bad luck. Two of the team's more experienced players, Gabriel Rivera and Vincent Cruz, are both injured. Cruz, also a senior and captain, is still able to play although is sporadically taken out of the game to rest his knees.
Rivera, retuning from the 2009 season, is on the bench until at least the end of February. In their first tournament of the season on Jan. 28, 2012, Rivera dislocated his shoulder with only nine points on the board, trying to dive for a misplayed ball.
He will be going through physical therapy before being able to play again.
"Gabe's injury is a huge step backwards for us this season, but luckily it happened so early and we hope to have him back by the end of month.
Right now we are trying to find a reliable replacement for him and to be honest that's been a struggle," said head coach, Allison Stack.
The tournament, aside from the early injury, was a good learning experience for the team to bounce back and work together.
One of the games was a grueling five set match, in which Baruch was able to grab a win against their biggest CUNY conference rival, the Hunter College Hawks.
"The best part of all is that some freshmen have stepped up to the plate more than anyone expected them to. I'm excited to see how this team grows throughout the year and so should everyone else be as well." Smith said.
They went on to lose against both Medaille College of Amherst and Sacred Heart University of Connecticut, while placing a win against Stevenson University of Maryland, making the final outcome of their tournament 2-2.
They have taken a hit in both a loss of physical players and recognition, and need to work hard to get to a standing where they want to be.
"I have concluded that this will be my toughest men's season ever to coach because we have so much to work on," said coach Stack. "But we have so much natural talent and athleticism. So as a coach, I need to work harder than ever before."
The loss against Medaille has moved the team down in the National rankings.
In the latest AVCA Division III poll the Bearcats were ranked #12 down from # 10 in the previous week.
Baruch will be hosting the Baruch Tournament at the ARC Arena starting Feb 25.
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