Gearing up for the spring season, the Harding men’s volleyball team has been busy this semester by playing games and participating in tournaments. As a spring sport, they compete in invitational tournaments during the fall semester, and then in three conference tournaments from Feb. to April.
Since the men’s volleyball team plays under the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation and is not sanctioned by the NCAA, they are a college travel team. However, the recruited players get a small scholarship portion to cover gear and travel expenses. The team currently has sixteen players, ten of which travel for tournaments. Recently, they traveled to Fayetteville to compete in the Razorback Invitational, receiving second place. Junior and team captain Joshua Schmidtlein recalls how he grew up playing volleyball.
“I grew up playing competitive club volleyball and when I got to high school, I started a high school travel team and played all 4 years,” Schmidtlein said. “I have been on the volleyball team since my freshman year in August of 2022.”
The team’s record is 4-1-1 for the 2024-2025 season. Even though they are considered a Division II school, some of their competitors include Division I schools such as Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas and Kansas.
Sophomore Jaxon Sands was recruited for the team from a film he posted during his high school career.
“Our upperclassmen do most of the functional coaching like running practice drills and calling shots in game, but Matthew Schmitz is our sponsor and coach,” Sands said. “Although playing for the team takes up a good amount of study and social time, I love the sport and spending time with the team, traveling, playing or just hanging out with the guys.”
Freshman Nathan Rosenberger is a first-timer on the team this year, as he played volleyball while in high school. The team engages in activities together outside of regular practice and games.
“Most of the guys on the team hang out regularly with each other outside of travel ball,” Rosenberger said.“We sometimes play pick-up games with one another or just go hang out at various activities. Another aspect of the team is that after practices and morning lifts, we like to eat together as a team.”
