Men’s Volleyball Set To Take Flight In 2011

Under the direction of third-year head coach Sheila Gisbrecht, the 2011 version of the Elms College men's volleyball team is poised to make a run at both the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) and North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) New England titles.

In 2011, Coach Gisbrecht will look to guide her team back to the NECVA tournament for the second time in three seasons. To help achieve this goal, the Blazers return five starters to the court including 2010 NECC Rookie of the Year and Second Team All-NECC selection Michael Martin (Enfield, Conn.).

Elms also returns all-conference first teamer Yonalvy Acosta (Holyoke, Masss.) and Second Team All-NECC selection Stephen Cameron (Newington, Conn.), as well as junior outside/opposite hitter Michael Kleckner (Bethlehem, Pa.) and sophomore middle hitter Wilfrido Fermin (Bronx, N.Y.).

The Blazers' mix of five seasoned returners and a cast of six stellar newcomers sets the stage for what could be a highly successful season in Chicopee, Mass.

Here is a look at the breakdown by position:

Outside/Opposite Hitters

In 2010, Martin was used as the team's primary setter dishing out 460 helpers to become the fifth best setter in program history. Now a junior at Elms, Martin will move to the outside and serve as an outside hitter to help solidify the Blazers' potent attack.

Elms also returns its best hitter from a year ago in Acosta who downed a team-high 216 kills and was the team leader in blocks with 66 (36 solo, 30 assisted).

Cameron and Kleckner also return as weapons in Coach Gisbrecht's arsenal. Cameron notched a team-best 220 digs and a second-best 164 kills last season, while Kleckner was third in kills (160) and tied for the team lead in service aces with 33. Kleckner is also tied for Elms' individual-match record for aces in a four-set match (eight), and a five-set match (six).

Senior newcomer Joshua Chagnon (Loudon, N.H.) will add depth and athleticism to a talented group of hitters.

Middle Hitters

Fermin anchors a trio of Blazers' middle hitters that are all over six feet tall. Fermin finished third on the team in blocks (46) last season.

Freshmen Khristopher Perron (Fort Myers, Fla.) and Bryson Rainey (Brookline, Mass.) round out the unit and will have an immediate impact this season.

Liberos/Defensive Specialists

Freshman Daniel Lebron (San Juan, Puerto Rico) will be the team's primary libero while sophomore Brendan Reed (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and Chagnon will also see action in the back row for Elms.

Setter

Freshman Kevin Welsh (Wilbraham, Mass.) will take over the setting role for the Blazers this season and will look to build off Martin's successful 2010 season at the position.

Question and Answer with Coach Gisbrecht
Q: Which player(s) need(s) to make the biggest impact to have a successful 2011 season?
A: As far as our first year players go it's going to be vital for Kevin Welsh to learn the setting spot in our system quite rapidly. That was a key point that we were missing last year. We had the hitters we just didn't have someone to run the offense. In addition to that, Stephen Cameron and Wilfrido Fermin now with a year under their belts in their positions are going to be huge as far as supplying some consistent offense and defense for us. In general our whole team is going to have to step up from last year in terms of their expectations and what they want to accomplish this season.

Q: What will the move of Mike Martin from setter to outside hitter do for the team this season?
A: It's going to be huge. I think Mike did as good a job as he could have possibly done at the position last year. He set from the middle, from outside, from everywhere. He really played the position in a non-standard system and he did a great job. It'll be nice to have his defensive tenacity in the back line where he doesn't have to worry about setting – that'll be a great thing for him. The hardest part will be that he is now essentially learning another position.

Q: Teams usually don't see a first-year setter come in and start. What does Kevin Welsh bring to the table that makes him a threat to the opposition?
A: When he figures out how to connect with hitters and play at the pace of the college game, it's going to be a completely different team than last season.

Q: With just one senior and three juniors on the team, talk about how those upperclassmen will take on a leadership role.
A: With the senior being Josh [Chagnon] he is going to be taking on more of a "learner" type role but being a senior student athlete will also bring a positive attitude for others to follow. As far as the junior class goes, two of them have been with the program since their freshman year. Yonalvy Acosta and Mike Kleckner are the two most experienced players on our team and last year both got quite a bit of experience and even Mike got some experience his freshman year. It'll be intriguing with them to see if they can remain positive and get the team to play in a positive frame of mind. It will also be important for them to be able to share the load if one of them is having a bad match – to be able to share some of that burden with their teammates so some of the weight is off their shoulders. That also works if one is playing really well – sharing that with the team will be hugely beneficial.

Q: What player has improved the most since last season?
A: Probably Stephen Cameron. He was already doing immensely better from the beginning of last season to the end but I think he's at a level where he is really understanding the position, and that's allowing him to use his volleyball brain and be a smart hitter. His defense has improved dramatically from last season. He is one of our primary passers and he didn't really even pass that much in high school. You can tell he's really getting into it. He's put the time into the weight room and you can also tell he's committed to becoming a better overall player. I think he's going to be the player to watch in terms of surprising people from what he did a year ago. I also think Yonalvy Acosta will improve because he probably won't be asked to play as much in the back. That should allow him to become a more consistent hitter.

Q: In the past an emphasis on team blocking has always been a focus. How will this team fare at the net this season?
A: I think we'll do pretty well. We'll have a lot more experience at the middle hitter position with Bryson Rainey, and Wilfrido Fermin. I think the hardest part of keeping our blocking up to level is going to be keeping everyone healthy. I think we have some really solid blockers in Stephen Cameron and even Kevin Welsh is a surprisingly good blocker for his height. We also have some other new players who could turn into blocking extraordinaires as the season goes on in Khristopher Perron and Josh Chagnon. The question is can we keep everyone's legs healthy or find a way to get the newcomers involved and rotated in early to give our starters some recovery time.