By Kristina Antol
October 1, 2013
With the passing of each day, the dawn of the men’s volleyball season creeps closer and closer. The players have been recruited, the coaching staff finalized, the season is finally set to begin, which swings into gear on Jan. 21 at the Igini Sports Forum. Staff reporter Kristina Antol recently met with the men’s volleyball head coach Dan Ames to learn a little more about the Dominican University men’s volleyball team and their upcoming inaugural season:
Q How did you recruit and find players for the team?
A: We recruited heavily from the [Chicago-area]. Knowing the landscape of men’s volleyball in the area and knowing a lot of local coaches, made the recruiting process a little easier for us here at Dominican.
Q: Why did Dominican Athletics decide to get a men’s volleyball team, especially when the women’s team was so successful?
A: Locally, the [Chicago-area] and Midwest region is a hotbed for men’s volleyball. [The Midwest] has some of the top club and high school teams in the country. With the success that we have on the women’s side, there was a great opportunity for Dominican to start a men’s program that should be very competitive right away on the national scale.
Q: What kind of players do you look for in a team?
A: We are looking for great student-athletes. The young men that we have brought in to be a part of starting the program are standouts in the classroom and on the volleyball court. Half of the team is in the honors program at Dominican. We have [created] a personality very early on with this team and with recruiting for the future; you have to make sure the student-athletes that you are recruiting will be able to fit into that personality.
Q: What does success mean for you in your first season as the men’s head coach?
A: With this being a first-year program, the young men on this team have set the goals of success very high for themselves. We have not talked about on the court goals, but in the classroom, the team’s goal is to have a team GPA more than 3.5. That is something first and foremost very important to our coaching staff and me. Personally, the goals on the court will be developed within the team once they step onto the court. If each and every one of these young men learns something new day-in and day-out, along with being a success in the classroom and around campus, this team will go places.