After months of downtime and uncertainty about volleyball and life in general, the Ramblers are ready to compete in the NVA Championships, November 5-8 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The players were doing all they could to stay in shape during the quarantines in both Nevada and California for multiple months. Luckily, they were able to get into the gym and start training again a couple of months ago, and they have seemingly shaken most of the rust off. Both sides of the Rambler’s roster, Las Vegas and Orange County, are currently hard at work preparing for, what intends to be, an exciting tournament in November for the NVA Championships.
The roster has gone through some significant changes due to COVID-19, and the team will have a completely different look, than it otherwise would have in 2020. With some players going overseas and others opting to use their allotted ‘covid year’ and staying in college for another season, the Ramblers rebuilt in a hurry.
The Vegas side of the Ramblers has remained the same with key players like Antwain Aguillard (Long Beach State) and Tanner Maxwell (GCU) leading the troops there in Sin City. The Southern California side of the Ramblers roster, though, has seen a significant makeover. Losing key players like Ryan Manoogian and Michael Keegan to overseas contracts, the Ramblers added players in a hurry to fill these, and other holes.
In a matter of weeks, the Ramblers added; Setter – Steven Duhoux (Hawai’i), Outside Hitters – Kendall Ratter (Princeton), and Ryan Schickling (UCSD), Middle – Marty Ross (UCI), Opposite – Ryan Mather (GCU), and Libero – Jake Hurwitz (UCSC).
The Ramblers are hoping that adding these quality players will add some depth to an already solid core roster. With all of the other teams similarly adding great players, the Ramblers hope to be competitive and surprise some teams in a couple of weeks.
Be sure to check out the new Ramblers website (Ramblers.nvausa.com) for more info on the team including the full roster. For livestream and stats visit the league website (nvausa.com) and/or download the NVA app. There you can see full schedules, stream all matches, and keep track of teams and players!
Here is a full schedule of matches for the event:
Thursday, November 5th (Pool Play)
| Court 1 (American) | Court 1 (National) | ||
| 8:00am | Stingers vs Matadors | 10:30am | Stunners vs Exposure |
| 1:00pm | Blaze vs Matadors | 3:30pm | Freedom vs Ramblers |
| 6:00pm | Stingers vs Tyrants | 8:30pm | Stunners vs Ramblers |
Friday, November 6th (Pool Play)
| Court 1 (National) | Court 1 (American) | ||
| 8:00am | Freedom vs Exposure | 10:30am | Blaze vs Tyrants |
| 1:00pm | Exposure vs Ramblers | 3:30pm | Matadors vs Tyrants |
| 6:00pm | Stunners vs Freedom | 8:30pm | Stingers vs Blaze |
Saturday, November 7th (Knock-out Stage)
| Court 1 | |
| 10:00am (1) | ‘Play-in match’ #1- 3rd place (NC) vs 4th place (AC) |
| 1:00pm (2) | ‘Play-in match’ #2- 3rd place (AC) vs 4th place (NC) |
| 4:00pm (3) | Quarterfinals- 2nd place (AC) vs Winner of Match #1 |
| 7:00pm (4) | Quarterfinals- 2nd place (NC) vs Winner of Match #2 |
Sunday, November 8th (Knockout Stage)
| Court 1 | |
| 10:00am (5) | Semifinals- 1st place (NC) vs vs Winner of Match #3 |
| 1:00pm (6) | Semifinals- 1st place (AC) vs Winner of Match #4 |
| 4:00pm | 3rd Place- Loser of Match #5 vs Loser of Match #6 |
| 7:00pm | Finals- Winner of Match #5 vs Winner of Match #6 |