Posted on May 6: McMaster men’s volleyball net two early recruits

McMaster men's volleyball team have received commitments
from Nathan Groenveld and Peter Hrkal to attend McMaster University in the fall.

Both players are members of the 2003 Ontario Provincial Team, and have
been identified by Team Canada for the junior national team.

Groenveld is a 6'6″ middle from Notre Dame H.S. in Welland Ontario. He plays with the Mountain Athletic Club (MAC), a volleyball club started this year by McMaster head coach, Dave Preston.

Hrkal is a 6'5″ outside player from Robert Hall S.S. in Caledon, ON. He is a member of the Scarborough Falcons Volleyball Club. Hrkal is the recipient of a Sport Alliance of Ontario, James Worrall Athletic Development Scholarship. He is the brother of current McMaster men's volleyball team member, Paul Hrkal. He will be competing in the 2004 Canadian Under 18 Championships in Moncton, NB this weekend.

This is head coach Dave Preston's second recruiting year at McMaster
University. In 2003 Preston secured eight Ontario Volleyball Association Junvenile Elite program members including CIS All-Rookie team member and OUA Rookie of the Year, Steve Murray.

Preston commented that “the development of our current team, and the addition of these two recruits will enable, McMaster to compete for a provincial volleyball championship next season.”

Preston captured six division championships in eight years as head coach at The University of Western Ontario. He joined the McMaster staff in August of 2002 and has improved the team from 2-16 in 2001/2002 to 7-11 in 2003/2004.

Later this month Dave Preston will be serving as the assistant coach to the Canadian national volleyball team at the FIBV Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Tokyo, Japan, May 22-30.

McMaster will host the CIS Men's Volleyball Championship in 2006 and 2007. Southern Ontario has not hosted the event since 1988 when the event was hosted by the University of Guelph.