Loyola Men’s Volleyball Coach Pins Hopes on Team’s Youth, Intensity

Second-year Coach Mike Normand hopes youth and enthusiasm will lift the Loyola Marymount men’s volleyball team above its No. 5 preseason ranking in the six-team Harry Wilson Division of the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn.

The youth comes from the team’s six freshmen players. But with that many freshmen, Normand said he expects to have some trying times early in the season.

One of those times came Wednesday, when the Lions lost their season opener in four games against Cal State Northridge. They lost the first two games, 15-9 and 15-7. In the third game, they battled back to win, 15-7. But the Lions dropped the decisive fourth game, 16-14.

“We just didn’t get the production that we needed from Sio Saipaia, and we made a lot of service errors,” Normand said. “We jumped out early in the first two games, but we just couldn’t keep the momentum going.”

Saipaia, a 6-foot-2 junior from Hawaii, is the player Normand expects to step up and give the Lions some needed strength in the outside hitting position. Last year, he averaged 5.5 kills and 2.3 digs per game.

Last season, the Lions finished the season 5-17 overall and 4-16 in the conference. “We learned the fundamentals last year, and with the stronger freshmen this year, we should do very well,” he said.

Normand is counting on the enthusiasm. He says his team can become among the top three in the nation by the end of the season because of the young players’ intensity and his faith in them.

However, he will have to beat some of the toughest teams in the country to make that prediction come true. Three of those teams are in his own division. Stanford is No. 1 in the WIVA, with Hawaii and USC close behind.

“We’re all pretty even, though,” Normand said. “When we play, it really comes down to (the fact that) whoever is best that day is going to win.”

The beginning of the season is difficult, however. The Lions’ first three matches--including the one with Northridge on Wednesday--are against conference teams. The Lions play host Monday night to Hawaii.

In addition to Saipaia, the Lion to watch will probably be senior team captain Chris Young. Young, a 6-foot-4 center blocker, led the team last season with 369 kills, an average of 4.7 per game.

“Young has really developed in the past year. He’s definitely playing at the four-year level,” Normand said.

The two other returning starters are Rick McLaughlin and Chuck Donlon. McLaughlin, a 5-foot-11 senior, is the setter. He is also the brother of USC Coach Jim McLaughlin. Donlon is a 6-foot-4 junior who will fill one of the outside hitting positions.

Freshmen Wayne Seligson, a 6-foot outside hitter from Hawaii, and Scott Peterson, a 6-foot freshman from Corona del Mar, are the other starters.

“These young players are really playing with great intensity, and sometimes that’s the edge,” Normand said. Five of the six freshmen played for him in junior leagues. “(They) will make errors,” he said, “but by the end of the season they’ll build a strong team.”