Men’s Volleyball Team Spikes Back Into Action
By: Kenna Cox & Gracie Oates
February 26, 2024
The West Texas A&M Men's Volleyball Organization is making a comeback after being off campus for fifteen years. The idea came about after the 2023 intramural volleyball season came to an end. Omar Reynoso, the Organization President, saw both a want and need for a team on campus.
“At the beginning of the [fall] semester, I had the idea for it, but it did not really kick off until I saw that Texas Tech had a men's volleyball tournament for school teams only,” said Reynoso.“I ended up emailing the Assistant Director of Intramurals, and he got back to me, we kept talking, and then things started happening for us.”
Over the span of two days, the organization had almost 30 excited candidates show up for tryouts. With only a 15-man roster, a tough decision was left to be made by the coaches and executive board. Next year, the team hopes to be able to have an A and B team competing at tournaments.
“We are looking to expand. We wanted to start off kind of small this year, forcibly, we had enough people to make two teams but we wanted to get to know each other, get the workarounds, and expand,” said Organization Vice President, Dylan McMullen.
The team is coached by two fellow students, Ryleigh Greer and Tylee Whipple. The idea of the duo coaching originally started as a joke ; however, it has grown into something so much more serious.
“Coaching is hard. People think it is easy and it is not,”said Head Coach, Ryleigh Greer.
The coaches have gained a new found respect for the differences in men's volleyball and women's volleyball. “It’s amazing to watch,” said Greer.
While the coaches have strong backgrounds in the game, being on the sidelines is something that is new to them both.
“We weirdly take this so seriously, it has become so special and important to us, we love it a lot,” said Assistant Coach Tylee Whipple.
The group uses social media to their advantage. By connecting with other teams' platforms, the organization is able to find out about upcoming tournaments and can determine where they are going to play next. The team's Instagram reached over 700 accounts within its first week, giving them reassurance that they have a community backing them.
Men’s volleyball is a small sport, and hopefully it only gets bigger. After the semester, the team is able to enroll in the Southern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Conference and will be competing against a larger variety of collegiate men’s clubs. The team's goal is to compete at the national tournament in 2 years.
The Men's Volleyball Club is thankful for the support the WT community has shown them in their short time back on campus.
“We have such a young team, it is really exciting,” said Whipple. As the team gains experience, they hope that the student body will recognize them as more than a club and appreciate them on a greater level.
All photos taken by Dylan McMullen & Pyi Zaw