When men’s club volleyball was founded quite some time ago at Pitt, not a whole lot of… When men’s club volleyball was founded quite some time ago at Pitt, not a whole lot of recognition was given to the club and not too many students or faculty knew it existed.

But a little more than a year ago, Leo Shim and Connor Weiss decided to change that. They had plans to make the club bigger and better and have a program that is run in a more orderly fashion.

The two men succeeded thus far, now in their second year of taking charge. The club is rapidly expanding and it is beginning to make a name for itself.

“It’s really growing,” said Weiss, the club’s vice president. “It started out as just seven guys that said ‘let’s go out and play.'”

Weiss recalled a tournament early last season that seemed to be the stepping stone for the club. Weiss, along with Shim and five others, decided to enter Pitt in a tournament at Penn State. The team, held up by barely enough players to play a single game, finished the tournament in second place.

The success of the tournament and the continuous efforts of a few dedicated members brought new life to the men’s volleyball club.

Since then, the team roster has inflated as an increased interest in men’s volleyball erupted on campus. This season, tryouts had to take place and members were carefully selected by Weiss, Shim and a few others. The club was reduced to 18 members who participate in competition.

Currently, the club is in a league that includes Slippery Rock, West Virginia, Carnegie Mellon and Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and an eight game season is presently in progress.

Already halfway through the season, the men’s volleyball team at Pitt has presented the school with a fair amount of pride. With a record of 3-1, the team is showing how serious it is about the sport.

Pitt defeated IUP first, winning 3-2. The following game for the team resulted in a 3-1 loss on a journey down Forbes Avenue against Carnegie Mellon.

The club turned up the heat quite a bit since and has put together a perfect 6-0 record in its last two games. It defeated IUP and West Virginia each by a score of 3-0.

“We’re coming together really well as a team,” club member Brandon Black said. “We’re finding out where we are right now.”

With such swift adjustments to the club and positive results, the team hopes to receive more recognition and more respect throughout the entire campus.

“We’re serious,” club president Shim said. “We want to win and we want to have fun. Hopefully this can keep growing.”