Players run together into a tight huddle, smiling as they celebrate a well-earned win. As league season begins for boys’ volleyball, the members of the team shared how they feel and their thoughts as they prepare for the upcoming league competition. “I feel pretty good about our team. We refreshed after last year since a lot of our seniors left, and we’ve been doing pretty well in games. We have a pretty good chance of winning the league,” Aguilar said.
Players also discussed what the team has been focusing on during practice. Communication has been one of the main focuses in practice as the team prepares for league competition, according to Aguilar. “In practice, I would say communication, because a lot of the mistakes we’ve had so far were from not communicating about who gets the ball or what’s going to happen during the game,” Aguilar said.
Another player, Michael Mesa, a JV player, said the team has been working on consistency. “Mainly getting our serves in, because we were struggling with that in previous games and rotations, which is just getting around the court, knowing where each other plays. Also, to stop freezing because lately we’ve been thinking, “This is their ball; they should get it” versus “This is my ball; I should be the one to get it,” Mesa said.
Aldo Venegas, a freshman who is a JV player, said, “One thing we can improve on is talking to each other, not letting the ball [touch the ground, just each one of us getting the ball and being able to pass it ].”
Mesa said the team’s chemistry affects his confidence heading into the league. “It does lower it a bit. Unlike varsity, which has good chemistry and is always excited and pumped up, we’re all new on JV. We don’t really speak to each other yet. We are slowly building a bond, but it’s not as strong. Especially on JV, players tend to blame whose ball it was,” Mesa said.
While the team has faced some ups and downs in practice and in games, Chris Perdomo, a sophomore who is a JV player, also mentioned several strengths within the team’s rotation. Perdomo said the team has several strengths going into league play. “Right now, the team has two really good setters, who are Aldo Venegas and me. We also have really good outside hitters and middle blockers, and in general, everyone in our rotation is really good. We have strong receivers, really good blocks, and powerful hits. We also have really good team bonding,” Perdomo said.
Uzziel Cruz, a senior varsity player, shared some of his expectations for the upcoming season. He said, “I think the team just needs to improve upon passing the ball so we can involve all hitters and run a faster offense. I know receiving is difficult, but I am confident that we can quickly make these changes. There have been some simple errors, such as the netting, but we can definitely fix those as well.”
In addition, Cruz emphasized the potential the team has to make it far in the playoffs. “I truly believe that our team can have a deep playoff run this year as long as we clean up some mistakes.”
Overall, as the league play starts, the team has its sights on focusing on improving communication skills, passing skills, and working together to prepare for upcoming games.
