This is the third in a three-part series examining Boston University club sports.
The game of volleyball requires a great deal of concentration, skill, conditioning and, with each player potentially in every play, balance. The same goes for streaking. It’s tough to keep footing when you’re not wearing anything, including shoes.
In the championship game of the 2003 National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association Men’s Division I Volleyball tournament, four streakers ran onto the court. One of the birthday suit-clad cohorts wiped out, got up and barely eluded the perturbed police, successfully giving new meaning to the title of William S. Burrough’s Naked (Spilling Your) Lunch.
The Boston University men’s volleyball club had a front-row seat for the action, literally. After going 3-5 and finishing second in the bronze bracket of the Division III tournament, despite missing four starters due to injury, the Terriers took seats to watch the University of Arizona and the University of California, Davis compete for the D-I finals. Then came the bare pair squared.
‘It was shocking,’ said sophomore club Vice President Derek Palmore, ‘that someone would do that at something that doesn’t appear so big on paper, a club sport. Usually you do something like that at something big, like football. So we were like, ‘Wow, that’s awesome.”
The national club volleyball scene is a large one, though it has limited recognition in Boston. BU’s club volleyball team made an appearance in NIRSA’s national championships last year and finished ranked 26th nationally in Division III club ball, after reaching a peak of 16th during the season. With a match record of 15-13-2 and a game record of 35-27 (league 3-4-0, 8-8) in the 2002-2003 season, the Terriers are looking to improve upon last year’s injury-plagued campaign.
Competing in the eight-team Eastern Division of the New England Club Volleyball Association, the Terriers’ season runs from February through national championships at the end of April. Though the regular season is short, composed of three weekends two divisional tournaments and one interdivisional tourney outsiders should not be mistaken into thinking that the players are shortchanged, according to senior Club President John DeVerna.
Tryouts, then practice, begin in September. Once the team is set, they practice at the Case Center from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday nights and on Sunday afternoons, under the radar like most club teams.
But aside from practicing three times a week, they schedule a number of offseason tournaments. The likes of Army, Northeastern University, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Emmanuel College’s D-III varsity team and others came to Sargent Gym on Nov. 8 to compete in the BU Preseason Invitational Tournament, with Massachusetts taking the title.
Two Terrier squads an ‘A’ group and a ‘B’ team entered the tourney in order to get more ‘playing time,’ DeVerna said. The ‘A’ squad came up short in the semifinals to Army, but not due to a lack of ability, according to DeVerna.
‘Our starting team would’ve made the finals, if not won the whole thing,’ he said, ‘if we didn’t have two injuries.’
The team will also host the first annual Boston Winter Open at Sargent Gym on Dec. 7, hoping to draw two pools of 10 teams each. They will also compete in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Marty Open, which the Terriers won last year, going 7-2 in what DeVerna pointed out as a ‘big tournament.’
This year, they bring seven new players to the court with them. Each one is a very capable athlete, picked good and fresh.
‘We’ve always had good turnout,’ DeVerna said. ‘We’re always trying to look for grad students with more experience, but the last two years we haven’t had much grad turnout. But undergraduate turnout has been on fire.’
Competing in the same division as Boston College, Northeastern and MIT breeds rivalry. The team expects a higher level of commitment from its members than any of J. Lo’s husbands would ever dream of from her. And though the team realizes ‘scholar’ comes before ‘athlete’ in the term, it’s an unwritten rule that the guys need to come to practice.
‘We’d like to say that the full commitment is academics, but we like to think that volleyball is important, too,’ Palmore said. ‘Even though we’re a club, we try to promote competition. So, we say that if you have homework, get your homework done, but try to come to practice.’
Though the competition is not the best in the nation, the talent in the 32-team league is enough to satisfy his Hawaiian-bred urge to play, Palmore said. Despite the fact that the NECVL is ‘predominantly Division II’ club teams, it’s tough to expect more from the East Coast, as the West usually reigns supreme over the hard court kingdom, he said. The notion held true as last year Arizona and UC Davis finished first and second, respectively.
‘The NECVL … is nothing compared to the West Coast and Hawaii,’ Palmore said. ‘National [Division I] champs are usually from the West Coast. In terms of competition, I’d compare the NECVL to the high school varsity level in the West.’
But it’s good enough for Palmore, whose joy for playing volleyball more than slightly edges out his joy for going to class. There’s something about going out and working hard while having fun with teammates (a few of whom are now his roommates) that makes sports a bit more enjoyable than economics, enzymes and the whole College of Engineering put together.
‘I’d say the highlight of my week is practice and, of course, tournaments,’ Palmore said. ‘It’s great for me to unwind and let go of the stress of school.’
And it’s not just the volleyball that keeps the guys coming back, according to DeVerna. The fact that Palmore rooms with a few volleyballers is not out of the ordinary for the ‘close-knit’ Terrier squad, who spend much time together off of the court.
That team unity is a big reason for the success of the program maybe even the biggest, according to Palmore. In a game in which all players must play their roles and know where their teammates are at all times, it’s huge that the team is so close.
It doesn’t hurt to take their minds off of bouncing balls to bouncing nightlife, either.
‘Cohesiveness is big,’ he said. ‘If the guys get along well, chances are they’ll play well. We’re solid, we all party together and have a good time. So, if you know the guys well, the team plays 10 times harder and 10 times better.’
Combining the talent of the players all of whom played high school volleyball with their unity and a clean bill of health, the team looks to make big strides this upcoming spring, DeVerna said.
‘I’m really happy with how we look right now,’ he said. ‘Last year we went to regionals and came in second place in the ‘B’ bracket. This year I see us doing better than that, at least making the ‘A’ bracket.’
The team has already secured a spot in nationals thanks to last year’s efforts, and will make the trip to Charlotte, N.C. in April. With a full set of clothes.
‘I just want to make it clear that it wasn’t us [streaking],’ Palmore said.