Hailing from Chatham Kent, the 5'6” libero for the men's volleyball team, Jordan McTavish, is excited about the team's prospects in the second half of the season as they make a run at an Ontario championship.

“We've been practicing for two weeks and our starting line is starting to really gel,” said McTavish. “If we play like this than we will be in (the OCAA) gold medal game with no problems.”

McTavish's volleyball route led us right back to high school.

“I didn't really choose volleyball per say, I was an overall athlete but my school had a great volleyball program and the coach kept bugging me to play. Then he bugged me to play beach volleyball, then club.”

This season has been one of ups and downs for the men's team; they have great skill and potential but have had some struggles with winning important sets and finishing games.

“I was frustrated with the team at first because I didn't see any chemistry. There was always something someone would do that someone else wouldn't like,” said McTavish. “I feel our team chemistry can be a lot better, we need to play as a team.”

This is important to McTavish because he co-captains the team with setter Mike Law.

“Mike and I share the captaincy very easily, I am a libero and he is the setter, so naturally I control the back row with the defence while Mike does the offense.”

Part of making a team into a gelled squad is how you handle your players. McTavish had a few expectations for his teammates.

“I have expectations for the team for sure, for the senior team members I want them to be leaders on the court, to get the team gelling and model for younger players. Let's say in a game, if I make a mistake I don't let it affect me, I want the team to feed off of that, I don't want the team to see any bad emotion on the court. If you play hard and are willing to sacrifice, like diving into the stands to save a ball, the team will work harder and you get the rewards,” said McTavish. “But as for the younger players I want them to support the players who are on the court and learn from them, because next year or the year after they will be the senior players and they will need to model for the younger players.”

This season has seen the Falcons compete in three tournaments so far and in all of them, including the recent Seneca tournament where Fanshawe took home the gold, McTavish earned a player of the game, or an all-star award.

“I am very happy with my performance, obviously I need to work on things constantly to better myself but yes, I am happy. I have really only had one game where I have not been up to the level of play that I expect from myself. I am constantly improving and I want to keep getting better.”