TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

Last season, you moved into the top ten in career blocks at UB. What do you look for when you set up for a block?
First, you have to recognize whether your opponents' hitter is right or left-handed. You also have to look at their positioning in order to take away their best attack angle, forcing them to hit the ball where they don't want to.

What is your job on the team as a middle hitter/blocker?
You are the first line of defense. You try to get a hand - or anything you can - on the ball to try to slow it down. Offensively, our role is to establish ourselves at the beginning of the game in order to free up our outside hitters.

How many plays does your team run, and what is ultimately the object of set plays?
The object of a play or a combination is often to open things up for a specific teammate. You try to throw the defense off, getting them to expect one thing and then using something completely different against them.

Discuss the history your family has in athletics.
Athletics have always been prolific in my family. My father, Aaron, played basketball at Roberts Wesleyan and was eventually drafted by the Indiana Pacers. My uncle Roosevelt played collegiately at Syracuse and then moved on to play professionally in Europe for a number of years. My older brother, Aaron III, pitched at St. Bonaventure and was then drafted by the Baltimore Orioles. He is now the pitching coach at Brescia University in Kentucky.

How have you changed as a player since your arrival at UB in 2000?
The biggest difference in my game is the level of consistency that I perform at. I am much more comfortable with where I am at in that regard. Especially now being a senior, I am in a position at which I must set an example for my younger teammates.

What did the honor of being selected as a co-captain mean to you?
It was important to me. With the young team that we have, all of our veterans are going to have to take on additional roles as leaders.

How does the fact that your team has seven incoming freshmen impact the preparation process for the season?
They are young, but all of them have so much potential. Right now, they are big sponges soaking up everything they are seeing and hearing. This program is definitely going to go places with that set of newcomers because they have the work ethic it takes to better the program.

During the preseason, what types of practices have been taking place?
Tough practices - a lot of double sessions - with a lot of work on fundamentals and footwork. We've broken down each of the components of the game and have worked on them individually. Just recently, we brought them all together. With the amount of newcomers we have, a lot of our focus now is on gelling as a team.

What did last year's Mid-American Conference victory over Toledo do to the spirits of your team?
It definitely meant a lot on an emotional level. You work so hard everyday, so finally having a tangible result such as a conference win gave us a major high. Mentally, that helps us now in that we know we can not only get close, but we can do it.

What are some of the goals you have set as a team for the 2003 season?
The obvious goal is to get more wins. To do that, we need to have much more consistent play. With that consistency and hard work, we will be on the path to earning more victories.

-The "10 Questions with…" feature is compiled by Geoff Nason.