SMCC Men's Volleyball Set to Make History in 2022
PHOENIX ---
The South Mountain Community College men's volleyball team will begin its inaugural season in 2022 with a Jan. 20 home contest at 6 p.m. against Park-Gilbert. Led by head coach Pat Mooney, the Cougars will play 12 matches this spring with seven home contests.
Editor's Note: The Jan. 20 contest against Park-Gilbert has been postponed until Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 6 p.m.
"We are very excited for this season to start; we've been waiting since last summer," said Mooney. "I appreciate the student-athletes and their willingness to step out of their comfort zone. They have been patient with some personnel changes and the growing pains of a new program. I am happy to have these guys here, they have sacrificed a lot to set the tone. "
SMCC features a roster of nine Cougars, with eight student-athletes coming from Arizona. The Cougars will square off with local NAIA universities Park-Gilbert, Ottawa University (AZ), Arizona Christian University and Benedictine Mesa. SMCC will also face the club teams from Grand Canyon and the University of Arizona in home-and-home match-ups.
"Practices have been interesting, and after a scrimmage with Grand Canyon University in the fall, we found out where we stacked up," Mooney said. "We have a lot of work to do, but we're in a good spot and have nine guys that are committed to doing the hard work it's going to take to get better every day. We will get where we need to be."
SMCC added men's volleyball as a varsity sport through a $10,000 grant provided by the NJCAA Foundation and First Point Volleyball Foundation.
"We are looking to get the program off the ground and compete with the four-year universities here, but we hope other community colleges in our state and conference add the sport in the coming years," Mooney added. "There are numerous Arizona high schools sponsoring boys' volleyball, and there are also a lot of guys playing junior club volleyball. Getting to play at the varsity level in college is a different feeling than playing club at a university, and I think some schools are missing out."
Six of the seven home contests, including the season opener against Park-Gilbert on Jan. 20 at 6 p.m., will be live-streamed at SMCCCougars.com.