UMO men's volleyball notebook

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 8, 2016 1:48 PM

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PRESEASON RANKING

* UMO is picked third in the 2016 preseason coaches' poll behind defending champion Pfeiffer University and Erskine (S.C.) College.

The Trojans haven't won a regular-season championship since 2013 and senior libero Ryan Thomas is the lone holdover from that group. Mount Olive swept the regular-season and tournament titles in 2010 and 2011.

"Our juniors, sophomores and freshmen -- they've never won a conference title or conference trophy and they want one badly," Heller said. "The amount of work they've put in during the offseason shows that with the lifting they did, extra passing reps and using the serving machine (outside practice) to get extra reps.

"Those are the types of things as a coach you really love to see because that's the point when you know everybody has brought into this as a team that's going to do it. Nothing small is going to divide us."

ALL-CONFERENCE

* UMO returns three all-conference selections from last season -- second-team libero Josh Donahue, second-team middle hitter Andrew Sydow and third-team outside hitter Bret Rutledge.

Donahue led the nation in digs per set (3.29) and owns the single-season school record with 27 digs against Barton. Sydow posted a single-game school mark of 12 blocks against Limestone, and led the team in total kills (220) and attack percentage (.461). Rutledge provided 216 kills and posted 100 blocks.

Thomas and senior Mike Mann, a military veteran, earned all-conference academic honors in 2015.

STRONG COMPETITION

* The Trojans play six teams ranked in the 2016 preseason American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I-II poll -- No. 4 Long Beach St., No. 10 Penn State, No. 14 Ball State, No. 15 Cal State-Northridge; and national vote-getters Pfeiffer and IPFW.

"I want them to get out of it that you may not be at the big-name school like some of these players, but that does not mean that you're not as physically talented as those players," Heller said.

"I really want them to learn to see on video and in person what it takes to become a program that consistently wins their conference, makes a run at national titles, makes a run for All-America status."

FROM PLAYER TO TEACHER

* Tyler Yanez dished out nearly 1,000 assists last season as the Trojan men logged a 15-10 worksheet that included a semifinal-round appearance in the Conference Carolinas tournament.

Yanez is a student assistant this season and is in charge of two 6-foot-4 freshmen setters -- Shane Yeo and Hugo van Garderen. van Garderen has a strong service game and could emerge as a blocking force at the net. Yeo gained considerable playing experience with highly-regarded Sports Performance out of Chicago and has the knowledge to run an offense.

"They've both jumped in feet first and really weren't that nervous about taking the reins of the offense," Heller said. "Ryan has pushed Josh and our freshman, Andrew (Salmon), for that spot. The three of them are making serve receive a priority and that's something that we need to continue to do to hang with the teams in our conference that we lost to last year.

"Andrew has had phenomenal training. Defensively, I think he is a step above where Josh is at (right now)."

ALL-TIME RECORD

* Mount Olive enters its 11th season with an all-time record of 154-85 since it started as a club team in 2006.

The Trojans set the single-season school record for wins (22) in 2013, and have posted 15 or more victories in a season on eight occasions.

Heller's career record is 52-28.