Justin Bannister Talks About PSUA’s Volleyball Season

Senior at Penn State Altoona, Justin Bannister, continues his career on the Men’s Volleyball Team for the fourth year in a row. Bannister started playing his freshman year and has played ever since. Justin was in the army for more than four years and felt he needed to be part of a sport to keep his mind and body busy. He explained, “I like to do something where I know I can get better.”

Justin is one of two men on the volleyball team to have stayed a full four years. While everyone else that has played for the team eventually transferred to University Park. Bannister explained the difficulty of facing 12 other teams in the conference where all but one of the teams competing are four-year schools, whereas Penn State Altoona is not. Because of this, the team has rotating positions and there are no set positions for any of the players on the team.
“I think it’s good, I think it keeps a competitive edge because everyone knows that everyone is fighting to play…. It makes them know that they have to work every day to earn their spot on the court it’s not just given to them,” said Justin.

Bannister explained what the training is like and the process they go through to make themselves better each game. The team watches videos of opposing teams to see what their strengths and weaknesses are and compare it to their own. They volleyball team has also been doing different drills at practices to make sure that they are conditioned well for their games.

Aside from the team’s physical training aspect, they also have to bond spiritually and mentally as well in order to maintain their great system of teamwork.
Justin stated, “We hang out with each other outside of volleyball. We are just really cohesive with each other and get along. We watch each other’s backs and make sure to take care of the freshman when they come on the team and help them with school or anything when they need it.”

With the team being 8-9 right now, Justin is making sure he is training extra hard to win these upcoming games. The team is analyzing their soon-to-be opponents with the head Coach Phil Peterman and working hard at their drills during practice.

“We were one of twelve teams to make it to the NCAA tournament in the nation so this year our goal is to make it to win our conference again and return to the NCAA tournament,” Bannister said. Their next game will be held on March 12th at Penn State Altoona.

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