It’s been a rollercoaster ride of a season for the Algonquin Thunder men’s volleyball team.
No one will argue with that.
After starting the season off with a convincing 6-2 record, with their latest loss to the Canadore Panthers on Jan. 31, the Thunder have dropped seven straight and were winless in January.
“It is devastating to see my team, with such great potential, start so great and end up in a situation like we are in right now,” said middle blocker Nikita Yastrebov.
The Thunder have had countless injuries throughout the season, none a more painful loss than when team captain Mozafar Abdoli went down with a dislocated thumb.
But Tommy Le, first-year player for the Thunder, says it’s more than just injuries that have let the Thunder down.
“On paper, we (were) not supposed to be beating teams with our experience and skill level, but we did,” said Le. “We did it in the first half of the season, but along the way we have lost that.”
The Thunder have an extremely young team. In fact, 10 of 13 players on their roster are first years at Algonquin. Though they might be inexperienced, the losing, as of late, isn’t for a lack of preparation.
“Our coach, Jay Mooney, did the best he could to prepare us to be able to compete at this level,” said Le. “I think there are just some areas where experience really (does) come into play.”
With their poor record of 6-9 and only three games left in the season, this year becomes a building block for the next season. But that doesn’t mean they can’t finish the season strong.
“We gave Canadore a challenging game,” said Yastrebov. “I hope we will be able to carry this energy to our next game and finally break (the) streak.”
The Thunder will look to close out the season with a win when George Brown visits on Feb. 14.