A trio of Pepperdine Waves took their volleyball skills and insights south of the border a few weeks ago.
Waves men’s volleyball team head coach David Hunt, redshirt senior David Wieczorek and 2012 graduate Matt Pollack were part of the United States Men’s Volleyball Team that competed in the Aug. 28 to Sept. 2 Men’s Pan-American Volleyball Cup in Cordova, Mexico.
The three and their compatriots finished the six-day competition with a 3-2 record. The group was composed of 14 young volleyball players in college or who have graduated college in recent years that USA Volleyball believes can help the national men’s volleyball team in the future, said Hunt, a coach on the international level for several years.
“The whole purpose of that group was to get them some match time internationally,” Hunt last week while watching the Waves men’s volleyball team practice. “The most valuable resource you have as a national team coach is match play. Guys can play well in practice, but when the lights come on, how do they respond? We got to see some guys in some big international moments against experienced international teams.”
America defeated Peru, Dominican Republic and Chile in the 12-nation spectacle, but fell to Puerto Rico and Argentina. Despite the winning record, the U.S. finished the event in seventh place and failed to qualify for the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru.
Along with Wieczorek, a 6-foot-8 outside hitter, and Pollack, a 6-foot-9 middle blocker, the U.S. roster included three players with UCLA connections, two with Stanford connections and players affiliated with college programs such as BYU, UC Irvine, Lewis, California State-Northridge, Hawaii, UC Santa Barbara and McKendree.
Hunt said Wieczorek, who finished Pepperdine’s 2018 season a member of two All-American teams, played in the 2017 version of the tournament, but didn’t receive much playing time. The coach said this year’s event gave the Waves player an increased workload on the court and showed him aspects of his game he could improve in preparation for his last collegiate season and higher volleyball ranks.
“He has become more of a student of the game,” Hunt said of Wieczorek. “For him, I think it was cool to see the improvement he made this last year. He was at the tournament last year and didn’t have the success he was hoping for, but he really worked to make good changes. If I was him, I would be really encouraged about the growth I have made and my ability to make good change.”
The second-year Pepperdine head coach said the Pan Am competition was the first time Pollack had played on a national roster.
“It was good for him to be recognized and to show what he can do and bring to the table,” Hunt said.
Pollock scored 16 points on a team-high five blocks and 11 kills in the U.S.’s 26-24, 25-18, 27-29, 25-22 downing of Chile on Sept. 1, one of the event’s semifinal matches and the team’s last game. Wieczorek scored 16 points on 15 kills and one ace. He also had 10 digs and 16 excellent receptions.
America opened the tournament on Aug. 28 by beating Peru in pool play. The U.S. won, 25-21, 25-14, 26-24. Wieczorek had six points and a match-high four aces. Pollack had four kills.
America then lost the next two pool play matches. Puerto Rico beat the U.S. on Aug. 29—Wieczorek had 10 points on nine kills and one block, and Pollack had three kills and one dig—and the next day, the team was defeated by eventual cup champions Argentina.
Wieczorek scored nine points on a match-high four aces, three kills and two blocks as the U.S. beat the Dominican Republic, 25-19, 25-21, 25-16, in an Aug. 31 matchup.
Hunt, a member of U.S. national squads’ coaching staffs for several years and an assistant coach of the Japanese Men’s National Team, said for him the tournament was a chance to pick the brains and compare volleyball notes with some of the brightest volleyball players and coaches in the world.
“I get to see what they think about different situations and see different international players and how they are playing the game,” he said. “It’s constantly this cat-and-mouse game. Here is a new offensive strategy, and how do we defend it and how do we offensively counteract that? There are always different styles of play we see. It’s fun to be on the cutting edge of that.”
Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Mexico grabbed the event’s top five spots, qualifying for next year’s Pan games. Canada finished sixth, followed by the U.S., then Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Peru.
Hunt said the U.S. was playing its best volleyball by the end of the tournament.
“I was a little bummed there weren’t more matches to be played because I felt we were going in the right direction,” he said. “We just ran out of time at the end.”