NVASeasonFeeling Settled In His New Home With the NVA, Mario Meza Prepares His Team for the 2021 Championships

Libero Mario Meza has been the guiding voice for the Ontario Matadors this season, especially when coaches Mark Mina and Osvaldo Vogel couldn’t make some matches. Mario has had an impressive track record with leading teams to victory as the head coach at Diamond Ranch high school and assistant coach at La Verne University. His biggest accomplishment was when Diamond Ranch went to win the 2018 Division V CIF southern section Championship. 

Diamond Ranch sweeps Garden Grove to win Division 5 volleyball title – San Gabriel Valley Tribune (sgvtribune.com) 

With a trained eye for finding solutions for the team’s problems, Mario has identified what his team will need as they prepare for their first match of the postseason. With LA Blaze and the Dallas Tornadoes out of the competition, the Matadors are ranked last in the conference. They will have much work to do if they hope to pull off and upset make it past the first round of playoffs. 

“The team goal moving forward should be to fine-tune our ability to have consistent energy, so we have more mitigating our errors. Our team has many ups and downs with emotional waves that we have ridden very well in the past, such as our 3-0 win over Team Freedom. Other times however it works against us as we start the match flat and are unable to mitigate our errors.” – Mario Meza 

Compared to other adult leagues, such as the North American Gay Volleyball Association, Mario has been very excited for the chance to train every week with his team. As Mario said, “we need to use this opportunity to continue developing our team chemistry leading up to the championships.” But aside from his excitement for his team’s chances, Mario has looked fondly at the NVA giving Mario and other LGBTQ+ players a home this season. 

“I like that our teammates have been super accepting and have made us feel comfortable by always staying lighthearted with us. That’s a big thing to have that sense of comradery across all the teams in the league. As NAGVA hasn’t been able to function under COVID, it has been great to see how the NVA has found a way through to operate once again.” – Mario Meza.

Mario is currently ranked 20th in the league for his 91% perfect passing reception on 51 attempts and has racked up 29 digs this season. Fans can catch Mario and Matadors make their push in the playoffs as they take on the first place Vegas Ramblers July 9th-11th. Make sure to give Mario (@marihoeee_), the Ontario Matadors (@matadorsnvausa), and the NVA (@nvausa) a follow-on Instagram to stay up with the team and catch highlight clips from Event 3.

Happy PRIDE Month, Everyone!