On January 31st Trent Men's Volleyball team made history. For the first time since joining the OUA in the 2016–17 season, they have achieved three games won in a season. 

What's more, for the first time ever, they've beaten a team that wasn't Kingston’s Royal Military College (RMC).

Brock University has the proud honour of conceding this victory. After a 3-1 match, players from both Trent’s men’s and women’s team stormed the court to celebrate. 

“It’s a big moment for the team,” Nick Badalato, team captain said. “It’s been a long time coming, especially for a lot of seniors.” 

“It’s also awesome for the first years to see how it gets done,” he added. “It’s something to build off for sure. We don’t just want to end three wins a year, we want to start moving towards a play-off push.”

Badalato also spoke to the value of this momentous win being won on the home court. “I think we have one of the best home crowds in the OUA, so [opposing] teams are always a little rattled. And if we win at home, more people will come out to the games.”

Coach Colin Walker echoed this belief “This is a fun place to play,” he said. “When the students come out and cheer, this is a loud place. We don’t see that in the other venues. It helps with the energy level for us to play.”

“I know other teams are envious, and enjoy coming here because the atmosphere is so loud,” Walker said. “It makes us play better, and it makes good matches.” 

Loud it was. Chants, jeers, and witticism flowed from the bleachers onto the court. 

Whether it was comments on how a ginger on Brock's team looked like a leprechaun, or some constructive criticism on the referees’ calls, and even simple, annoying "YOU CAN'T DO THAT"s after a failed dig, The Shack was never quiet. All this without mentioning the audience slamming their feet on the bleachers as Brock went to serve, or horns in the crowd underscoring every point scored for Trent. 

This competitive spirit was also carried off the court. "If you can walk and talk, you can play for Brock," one attendee said after the first game. 

All of the above taken to new heights, with the new-to-this season addition of an announcer, and a dedicated Athletic center employee on aux. Both of which continue to make Excalibur proud, and rouse the crowd with patriotic fervor.

“It feels like a milestone,” Walker said. “That was what our goals were at the beginning, to come in and set a record. We’ve accomplished that, and now we move on to the next one.”

Badalato credited this win and the team’s overall improvement to a glut of new players. “The addition of new key pieces like—I’m going to shout out our rookie Brock Drover,” he said. Drover was named co-player of the game against Brock. 

“He’s been playing really well,” Badalato said. “As a team, at practice lately we've been working really hard, we have a lot of new guys, and we’ve been pushing the guys that play a lot. In practice it’s where it really starts.” 

Walker repeated the importance of practice in the victory and in creating a “culture of high performance.”

“Having everyone buy into the idea that we can get better…it’s a process,” he admitted. “Part of it is finding the resources, which Trent is starting to initiate to help create that high-performance atmosphere. Little things, like just the gym floor [which was recently redone], makes a big difference in the eyes of the athletes of the guys and the girls teams.” 

Like Badalato, Walker echoed the importance of recruiting. “Getting athletes that want to come here, want to experience Trent.” 

“Trent has a great reputation on the academic side, so we’re able to track some high-level academic athletes, and we’re starting to do that now,” Walker said. “Getting the right people to come in and commit, you know, a lot of time to make this a high performance [team]. [We] love the challenge, and love supporting each other and helping each other get to that next level.”

“I’m proud of the guys—especially the seniors,” Walker concluded. “The 3^rd and 4^th year guys have put a lot of time and effort into getting to the point where we can do that. It’s their effort that [allowed] us to do that.” 

This wasn't the only big win for the team in January either. They also won their first home game in 3 years against RMC, and narrowly lost a barn burner match against Western, with the 2-3 game ending in a 13-15 set.

Despite losing the rematch game against Brock the next day, the team was still in high spirits. 

“It feels pretty good. I’ve been waiting for this for three years, so it feels awesome,” Aly Saydam, star setter and co-recipient of Player of the Game said. “It kinda sucks we lost the second game; it felt like we had it too. But I’m happy. You can’t take a win away.”

He was also glad that the victory came on the home court. “Winning away would be nice, but winning at home is a lot better. My parents were here, and a bunch of friends. I’m happy we won at home.”

Charlie Winser reiterated his oft-stated observation that "The boys are buzzing." "I now have three nickels," Baxter Scholberg said, recalling an interview from the beginning of the season.

The women's team also had a momentous weekend. They had their "senior night," a ceremony after their last home game of the season where they said goodbye to teammates leaving the program at the end of the year.

This farewell came right off the heels of an exceptionally close match, a 2-3 game with a defining set of 10-15. 

Saying goodbye to the Trent family at the end of the year are Justine Colambot, Kallee McKinney and Ashley Chartier. They were all presented with a speech by Associate Head Coach Rebecca Van Staalduinen, flowers, and a photo of their time on the team along with some tears and cheers from the crowd.