Rutgers-Newark Athletics

By Jim Hague

Zack Chambers has a unique distinction among the players on the Rutgers-Newark men’s volleyball team.

Chambers didn’t come to Newark to play volleyball. He came to R-N because of its academic reputation and the unique course of study he wanted to pursue.

“I’m an ancient history major with a minor in Arabic,” Chambers says with confidence.

Sure, there are thousands of student/athletes in the country with those academic credentials.

“I was thankful that Rutgers-Newark offered that as a major,” said Chambers, who came to Rutgers-Newark last year after a two-year stint at a community college. “I didn’t know much about the volleyball team.”

But when Chambers arrived at R-N, it didn’t hurt that he had a background in volleyball, playing both at the club and beach levels.

Chambers decided to give volleyball at try at R-N, but realized one thing. He really didn’t have a position with the Scarlet Raiders.

“It was a little weird at first,” Chambers said. “I knew I wasn’t going to be a hitter, because I just didn’t have the size.”

But the team did need a libero, the defensive specialist that is basically a thankless slot, filled with not a lot of glory and very little attention.

“I was a former goalkeeper in soccer in high school,” Chambers said. “Being a goalie and being a libero are very similar. There’s a lot of diving for the ball, punching at the ball. They’re both very vocal positions. I like being a vocal leader. So that’s what I was going to focus on.”

New R-N head coach Pedro Trevino realized that the team needed a solid libero.

“The libero has to be a coach out there,” Trevino said. “He has to control the back row and help with receiving the serve. When you have a solid libero, it makes things easier.”

It also helped that Chambers already had the coaching experience. Last fall, while still enrolled at R-N, Chambers served as an assistant coach on the Scarlet Raiders’ women’s volleyball team.

“I’m pretty good friends with Joshua Coffing (the R-N women’s head coach) and he said that he was asking everyone under the sun to be his assistant,” Chambers said. “It’s something I always wanted to do. I really enjoyed it. It was only slightly bizarre, being a student and a coach, but I am 23, so I’m a little older than the rest. That helped. It wasn’t as awkward as one would think. It was a decent transition and the players responded well by accepting me. It was really nice.”

So the guy who was without a position became a libero and an assistant coach in the same year. Talk about making the most of being in a peculiar situation.

Trevino loves what Chambers brings to the team.

“Having Zack back there is one less thing I have to worry about,” Trevino said. “I don’t have to worry about going out there and having to coach him, because he knows what he’s doing. He’s always right there, in the right spot. For me, it’s huge to have a reliable libero. I think it’s the second toughest position to play on the floor. It’s not an easy thing to handle. You need someone who is a vocal leader, who can take total command.”

There’s another intangible that Trevino likes about Chambers.

“The guy wants to win all the time,” Trevino said. “He has such a competitive spirit. If it weren’t for his drive and his senior leadership, we’d be in a lot of trouble.”

Trevino also is astounded by Chambers’ endless energy.

“If our setter can’t get to the ball, chances are that Zack is jumping in and getting to it,” Trevino said. “That’s a great thing. He’s a vocal leader on the court and in the locker room. He has a voice there as well. It’s critical for us to have a libero with that attitude. But he wants to win. In practice, he’s winning the suicide drills every time. I seriously can’t ask for anything more.”

Chambers knows he has a thankless position on the team.

“It’s not a glory position, but I think that’s what pushed me to be a better libero,” Chambers said. “I watched others play the position and I learned from them. I wanted to be the best there. You need a certain mindset. You need to be vocal. You need to be a leader. You have to be able to communicate and let everyone know what they’re doing. I think my background in beach volleyball helps there. I learned how to communicate on the beach. I let everyone know then I was in the game.”

Chambers believes that playing in the Golden Dome helps during home matches.

“I’m super vocal and I have a loud voice,” Chambers said. “In the Dome, the voices carry and I use that to my advantage. I’m only involved in two of the six skills of the game, so I have to use my energy in other ways. It’s definitely a different mindset, but since I’ve learned it, I think I have a decent grasp of it.”

Chambers is studying towards getting a Master’s and eventually a doctorate in ancient history and Arabic.
“I’m going to go to graduate school here,” Chambers said. “I really like it here. The school has an awesome history department. The professors are all knowledgeable. I’ve learned to speak Arabic and now I’m in a class where all the people in the class are Arabs. So I’m learning the culture as well as the language.”

Chambers would someday love to become a professor.

“That’s the ultimate goal,” Chambers said.

Not to mention, doubling as a volleyball coach. He’s already tackled that part of his career even before he graduated from college. He’s well on his way to the second part of his dream.