Senior middle blocker Andy Bennett, second from right, played for a 20-9 Goshen College men’s volleyball team this past season.
Submitted photo
Goshen College men’s volleyball player Andy Bennett finds himself at a career crossroads.
One choice is for Bennett, a senior accounting major, to be part of commencement exercises on May 1. The other is to cash in the extra year of athletic eligibility made possible by the 2020 season being cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Either way, the 2018 Franklin graduate prospers.
Should the 6-foot-4, 200-pound middle blocker return, he’ll do the academic work necessary to pick up another minor (likely public relations, marketing or communications).
His relative newness as a volleyball player has Bennett excited for the chance to continue playing.
“I grew up playing tennis, and one of my teammates at Franklin, Logan Snyder, got me into playing volleyball starting my junior year,” Bennett said. “In terms of my knowledge, I started from a fresh slate. I knew nothing about the sport.”
Bennett’s ability to not only learn, but excel at, the sport eventually earned him an opportunity to play at the NAIA level.
“The original story is there was a club tournament at Southport my senior year, and the former Goshen College coach was there. He watched one of my games and came over to talk when it was over,” Bennett said. “I didn’t think I was going to play in college, but it’s been a blast.”
Goshen College men’s volleyball was introduced as a club sport in 2018. The Maple Leafs began playing a full schedule and competing as a varsity sport the following year.
Since he plays for such a young program, Bennett’s name can be found at or near the top of Goshen’s all-time lists in such categories as matches played, sets played, total blocks and block assists. He finished this past season ranked first on the team in blocks (98), fourth in service aces (12) and fifth in both kills (127) and digs (12).
However, not every positive attribute Bennett brings to Maple Leafs men’s volleyball is statistical.
If given a vote on whether or not Bennett should return, Goshen College men’s volleyball coach Lauren Ford would voice an enthusiastic yes.
“I absolutely love Andy Bennett,” Ford said. “He’s a teammate’s dream. Andy doesn’t take himself too seriously, and that helps him a lot. He doesn’t get down from criticism because he doesn’t take himself seriously.
“I think every team needs a person like that. You need that person who evens you out.”
Take trash talking, for instance. And, yes, it does go on during many men’s matches.
Bennett, a force at the net for the Maple Leafs due his leaping ability, isn’t one of the team’s go-to talents in this particular area.
“I usually keep to myself during matches,” said Bennett, who last week helped the Maple Leafs complete a 20-9 season — the second-best win percentage (69%) in their brief history. “But if someone starts trash-talking me or one of my teammates, I tend to make more jokes through the net than trash-talk.”
This is who Bennett is.
“Personally, I think I take it as seriously as it needs to be taken,” Bennett said. “I want to keep things light, which is definitely my personality.”
