Ole Saue reports on the team who came so close this season…
University of East London Volleyball have travelled an amazing journey over the last couple of years. They were ranked as the 48th best university volleyball team in the country just three years ago – they are now ranked third.
The men’s first team’s captain, Scott Edwin Weninger, tells Rising East that two players in particular have done an amazing job for the team.
“This season we did well, our team consisted of a lot of players with a lot of players with a lot of good previous experience: Dan, who has played pro in Sweden, and Lee Hamilton, who played for Canada’s B team,” he tells Rising East.
“I think those two players along with everybody else just brought a high level of skill to the court. That’s one of the reasons why we did so well this year.”
UEL men’s 1st team qualified for the BUCS final 8s this season, but after being beaten by group B champions Northumbria 1st, they finished second in the table.
Tomasz Morawski, who is coaching both the men’s and the women’s team, must take also big credit for the great results.
“He [Morawski] was able to recruit good players to the programme, like I already said; Dan and Lee, and the other guys, so he made the team what it was, and then we went from there,” he continues.
Weninger still doesn’t know whether he is returning to UEL after the summer, but one thing is for sure: he knows that UEL will be strong the upcoming years as well.
“We have four returning players for the upcoming season,” he says. “I may be coming back. With these four key players, and if they bring in some good recruits, whom I already know they have with a few committed to coming, they’ll be able to continue improving.”
UEL did well this season, but Weninger is still not completely satisfied.
“We finished second in the English student cup – and I think we should have finished first,” he says.