Hamilton, ON- Haben Yohannes knows the legacy of the McMaster men’s volleyball program. He’s played under legendary former head coach Dave Preston. He’s played with former teammates Sam Cooper, Mateusz Wlodarski and Wojciech Kraj. 

He understood and felt what being part of that program meant after the Marauders loss to the Windsor Lancers on Nov. 18.

“A bad taste in your month,” he described it as. McMaster lost their second regular season game in four sets to the Lancers. Yohannes and his teammates realized what they had to do. “Earned not given,” was their mentality – and so much more than that. 

“We have to earn this,” Yohannes said. “It’s not given to us just because we’re at McMaster.” 

The team went to work afterwards, showing up every day at practice. “Can’t take any days off,” head coach Brad Douwes described it. 

Their hard work paid off against the TMU Bold on Nov. 25 as they won in straight sets. Douwes called it their most complete match of the year – serving, defending and executing their game plan. “A team win for sure,” Yohannes dubbed it. 

The man often at the centre of it all – literally at times – was Yohannes. The third-year middle had three kills, six blocks and eight points. He stands out on the court – standing at 6’8’. 

The Scarborough native is seeing more playing time than before. He’s become a starter after Kraj graduated at the end of the last season. Kraj finished his four-year career as an OUA All-Star, two-time OUA national champion and a U SPORTS bronze medalist. 

Yohannes has learned a lot from playing with him for two years.

“Even though we’re a middle, we have to have a holistic game,” he said. In warmups, he’s working on technical touches – on the platform and on his hands. He would see how much time Kraj put into that. Yohannes would come back from the summer and think: I want to be the most technical middle.

He saw Kraj’s commitment to the little things and he did the same. It wouldn’t come up much during a game but Yohannes knew that was the difference between winning and losing a set at times. 

Yohannes has seen what putting in the work looks like up close. He knows what “earned not given” truly means. 

Everyone on the outside sees the points scored, the celebrations and the trophies lifted over the years. What everyone doesn’t see is the work they’ve put in to reach those moments. To earn them.

The grueling hours, day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month – year-by-year even. “It’s not for the faint of heart,” he noted. 

Yohannes saw Wlodarski after every game – no matter how late – in an ice bath. Wlodarski knew how important it was to take care of his body. He saw how that paid off with his teammate’s flexibility and mobility on the volleyball court. After finishing his six-year Marauder career as an OUA All-Star, Wlodarski is now playing professionally. So are Kraj and Cooper. 

Yohannes saw Kraj’s meticulous warm up and cool down – how diligent he was with all the different things he would do. 

He’s seen current teammate Maxime Gratton’s focus and commitment to always wanting to be better. He’s seen how Gratton’s maturity in his play and his mentality. 

He knows how important all those things are. Things that can go unnoticed. He knows how razor thin the margins are at the university level. 

“The commitment to the little details,” Yohannes said. The difference between good and great.

After everything he’s witnessed, Yohannes gained that understanding. He then turned that into how he approached his life and how he approached the sport. 

Half-an-hour before practice, there would be Yohannes on the heat pad to make sure he felt good and could play his best. It’s something he learned from Wlodarski, Kraj and others. 

After the Windsor loss, he thought to himself: Damn. I didn’t get enough touches on blocks. I didn’t do my job. 

So, he showed up and worked at it. He watched film. “Let’s look at my footwork,” he asked Douwes one day. So, the two of them went through it. Once the video started rolling, Yohannes realized even when he did get some blocks, he wasn’t happy with how he got it. He was too focused on his footwork and got too wide with his base. “All the little technical things,” he said. 

He knew and made those adjustments. He saw the flashes and moments of his practice and film watching paying off versus TMU. This is what you do this for, he thought. 

Against the Bold, Yohannes felt he had a pretty good blocking game. It marked a change from the Windsor game, which he called a bad blocking game for himself. He saw his hard work translate and his attention to detail come to fruition. 

Back in the preseason, Yohannes had an ‘aha’ moment. The Marauders were in Columbus, Ohio, about to play the Ohio State Buckeyes. It was one of those renowned games versus an NCAA powerhouse the program’s become known for. 

I used to dream about times like this, Yohannes thought. Wow. I’m actually here and I’ve done it. 

That moment was a sign of how far Yohannes had come – from not playing much coming off the bench in his first two seasons to now. 

He sees what he has to do, what he has to get better at. He puts in the hours to do so. 

However, being in the same environment every day with the same routine, he feels stagnant at times. Upon reflection though, Yohannes can see his growth. “Massive growth,” he called it. 

He doesn’t see it in the short term – perhaps aside from those glimpses here and there – but like a snowball rolling down a hill, it compounds itself over time. “You see it three years later,” he said. 

Yohannes is at a moment in time. On one hand, you can look back and see how far he’s come. On the other, you can see how there far he still can go. 

On one hand, you can see all the hours put in and how it’s paid off. On the other hand, you can see – can’t you – all the time and work still to come. 

What will that look like? How many accolades, wins and championships will that result in? How much better of a player will he be? It’s hard to say or see. Perhaps we should check back in two or three years later, when he’s a senior just like his former teammates were. 

Whatever that moment in the future looks like, Yohannes will have earned it. 

Featured Image: Kevin Lassel/McMaster Athletics