A loyal fan base and a group of passionate players demonstrates some of the key characteristics OHS boys volleyball yields for a victorious season. 

Through challenges, this famous team has been able to persevere, working to live up to the expectations that such a dedicated group strives for.

“Season was fun; it’s a grind. We lost like 11 seniors so we’re just trying to get back to where we were last year and just keep improving,” said Noah Kaoni, sophomore. 

With their sights set on staying at the top, OHS volleyball has found that quickly by persisting through the hardships, battling against  adversity and focusing on game enhancement has been beneficial.

“We came into this season not expecting to lose very much, if at all, because last season they were close to number one in the country and we ended up taking some hard losses against Brophy and Highland…we are practicing and watching films on them to hopefully come back and beat them in the state championship,” said Shamus Flanagan, senior.

An advanced level of competition requires complete focus and determination. For this reason, the players have recognized the necessity for making the most out of practices. 

“Practices were very hard…the only way you’re going to get better is just by working hard and not messing around. We kind of started out the season a little slow, and then we started realizing we have to keep working to get better,” Kaoni said. 

Such rigorous exercise requires these individuals to put the time in to ensure they are at their peak athletic ability throughout the duration of the season. 

“We workout every Wednesday. Lifting to maintain our bodies and get us through the season and get us through long tournaments, long days, long weeks through games,” said Keagin Christenson, junior.

For some, personal challenges inhibited them from reaching all of their aspirations for this year.

“I haven’t gotten to play as much as I would’ve liked…I ended up hurting my ankle pretty bad so it made my vertical, my jump go down which made it so I could not hit as well,” Flanagan said.

Thankfully, this team has a coach that has shown them unceasing support on their journeys with the sport. 

“This has been the best coach that I’ve had so far. Coach Troy Dueling has provided a lot of help,” Flanagan said. 

The absence of key players also created obstacles for the team; however, this was nothing the team could not come back from. 

“I think it was good for the team overall. Everyone needed to step up and play a bigger role on the team while I was gone so they’ve learned from that and they’ve all improved a lot since the beginning of the year,” said Finn Kearney, junior. 

For many players, their sights are set on showcasing their talent in volleyball on an even grander scale in the future. 

“Obviously I want to take it to the next level, and go to college and go D1. I play club and high school and my coach is helping through that, so it’s great,” Christenson said. 

For other team members, they have already committed to expressing their dedication to the sport in college, having their post-high school plans figured out. 

“Going to [The University of] Hawaii and then after that having a career there, planning to play pro overseas somewhere,” Kearney said. 

Overall, one of the main causes of the team’s triumph can be accredited to their unrelenting attitudes and motivation towards always putting their best game forward. 

“Just to bounce back and we still have so much more season to go. We’re not done yet and we still have all the way until the end,” Christenson said.

JV: 

Witnessing the victories of the varsity team, JV comes out of the season with a nearly undefeated record. 

Newfound visions of the necessities for triumph allowed this group of players to look back and feel proud about all they accomplished.

“It was fun. We got to experience a lot of good games and some defeat[s], but overall it was a very good season,” said Chayce Mondino, freshman. 

This motivated team found that creating goals allowed them to ensure they received the most out of their time on the team. 

“Some of our team goals were to win most of our games, find bonds that we haven’t developed before, and just experience good times,” Mondino said. 

Having a close-knit group is essential, as the athletes are spending a lot of their time with this group of individuals.

“The team is great. We work very well together and no one fights, no one argues, it’s great,” said Hayden Brown, sophomore. 

With their sights set on improvement, it is clear that the JV team will accomplish great things for years to come. 

“We plan on trying to go undefeated next year hopefully. If it doesn’t [work out] not too bad because we don’t really care about our score, but it’s nice knowing that we’re a good team,” Brown said.