The Nipissing Lakers men's volleyball team has added some size to the outside thanks to their latest recruit.
The Lakers are excited and proud to announce the signing of leftside Marc Marchand, who will join Nipissing after spending time with the Durham Attack and Peterborough Thunderbolts at the club level.
Marchand is excited about the next step in his volleyball career.
"I am beyond excited to join the Lakers family. Coach Yung and the team have been a super inviting family and are welcoming me with open arms," Marchand said about joining the Lakers. "I'm super excited to join not only the team, but also my program and be on campus up in North Bay."
Marchand will be enrolling in BPHE when he begins school in the fall.
Standing at 6-foot-5, the Lakers get a big hitter on the outside that should help the offence continue to be efficient and successful.
The native of Lindsay, ON hopes to bring his style to the court and help the team win.
"I am a very vocal player. I am a loud hard hitting pin swinger. I like to be upbeat and very vocal to help control the flow of the game," Marchand explained. "I am very good at keeping the morale of the team high and the stress low to focus on the game at hand."
Surprisingly enough, Marchand has only taken up volleyball recently, focusing on hockey prior to making the shift to the court.
He said his high school principal is to be thanked for pointing him in the direction of volleyball.
Lakers head coach
Eric Yung is thrilled to add Marchand to the program and is excited to get started.
"We are thrilled to have Marc join our Lakers family for the 2021-22 season. Marc has been on our radar for the last two years and we look forward to working with him," Yung said. "Marc brings physicality and passion to the court and is always eager to learn. We are excited to watch and help him grow both on and off the court for the next five years."
Marchand was named both top high school athlete, as well as MVP at the club level and attended Team Ontario High Performance tryouts at the U16 level.
Joining the Lakers with a positive attitude and the right mindset can go a long way and Marchand is ready to take on whatever challenges are in front of him at the OUA/USports level.
"My expectations for myself are to show up every day ready to work and grind as hard as I can to better myself on and off the court. I expect myself to do and play whatever and wherever the coach asks me to," he said. "For the team I expect them to push me as hard as I can be pushed to help me become the best player and man I can be.
"My biggest reason for choosing Nipissing as a school and a team was for the community. The community of the school is always inclusive and small so it feels like more of a family than a city. The atmosphere of the team is the same way; the boys are all for one and one for all and that is the atmosphere and mentality of a winning squad," Marchand added.
