Although I am regarded in my journalistic work as an “avid basketball fan” (shoutout to my previous article), there is another sport that captivates my heart with the same intensity as basketball: volleyball.

My passion for volleyball is quite recent, as I have only been following the trends of men’s collegiate and professional volleyball for around two to three years, dating back to my junior year of high school. 

Even though I would not say that I am the “best” at volleyball (as I failed to make my high school’s team or my previous college’s club team), I still find volleyball to be a valuable pastime, an activity that me and my friends can engage in and have a good time.

Now, as aforementioned, I am mainly a fan of men’s volleyball, and I am aware that there are a vast amount of top-tier men’s collegiate volleyball teams, namely the likes of Hawaii,

UCLA, UC Irvine, and Long Beach State. However, in Massachusetts, men’s collegiate volleyball teams are rather scarce, and it is even rarer to see a men’s team representing a community college. Therefore, I was rather surprised to learn about the possibility of a men’s volleyball team being introduced to Northern Essex sometime back in 2024.

My insider in this investigation was Lawrence’s Miguelangel Perez, a longtime school friend of mine and a volleyball player himself. I might say he’s one of the greatest liberos that I know of, and it makes sense on why he would know the ‘scoop” on the future of NECC men’s volleyball, as he was in active talks with the prospective coach for the team. It sort of had me wondering whether or not I wanted to tryout for the team, even though I probably would have gotten turned down again. 

Despite Miguelangel’s great knowledge regarding the situation, I was never able to catch the name of the coach that was aiming to help with the team.

And then, that was it. I completely forgot about the whole NECC men’s volleyball team, and I continued on with my studies, the team an afterthought in the back of my head.

Fast forward to Febarury 10, 2025. I decided to hit up Miguelangel via iMessage to check on what happened to the team, as I surely thought that they would be introduced anytime soon in the Spring 2025 semester. Regardless of my hopefulness, though, that was when he dropped the bombshell on what happened.

To summarize his words, the coach was distant for about two to three months, and then randomly messaged their team groupchat. The coach essentially wanted Miguelangel and the other men interested in the program to come out and “stand on business” on wanting a men’s volleyball team here at Northern Essex. However, this never came into fruition, and the team is now a lost relic in time.

At the end of the day, although I am sad about the NECC men’s volleyball team not existing during my time here, it still opens up the opportunity of it being introduced later on. 

NECC does have a women’s volleyball team. Three members of the Northern Essex Community College women’s volleyball team earned All-Region honors. The Knights finished the season with a 13-8 overall record and finished as Region 21 semi-finalist.