Varsity:
Two years ago, the OHS boys volleyball program won it all at the state championship. This 2023-2024 season, they will once again fight for success, before they have to lose six seniors at the end of the season.
Many of the players are sure that they will make it all the way, and feel that winning state is achievable for their team.
“This season, I feel very confident. We all are. We’re very good and we should win,” said Diego Garcia, junior.
Other players agree that a factor of success is the closeness of a team.
“We get along great; I think our chemistry has really improved over the years just because we’ve been together for so long. This is our final chance [to win] and it’s really fun to see it all come together,” said Braeden Baker, senior.
The team feels like a family, and they hangout outside of practice in order to keep up a healthy team dynamic.
“My favorite part of being on the team is the on and off [the court] connections. We are all hanging out outside with each other, not just with our own separate groups,” said Carter King, junior.
Forming these strong bonds is important for a sport such as volleyball, where the mental component is half the battle of being successful.
“When your team is not working together and you guys aren’t communicating well, it can go very wrong, very quickly,” Garcia said.
The team likes to remind each other that to win, good choices have to be made.
“Now we just have to lock in; make the right decisions on and off the court,” Baker said.
The boys have had to learn how to adapt to each other, making sure that they all fulfill their roles during games.
“Normally, I’ve been the guy for my club team, but in this scenario we’re all the guy. We just have to adapt to each other.” said King.
They do a good job of supporting each other, and leaving out any possible drama that could take place.
“We’re all very close friends, and we all rely on each other and bring everybody up. We make sure everybody knows that it’s okay to make mistakes,” Garcia said.
The main goal that all the players can agree on, is that they want to win. They are all putting in the work with the expectation that it will pay off effectively.
“This is our year, this is our chance to go get [another state championship],” Baker said.
JV:
The boys JV team has had an extremely successful season, only having lost one game the entire time.
Even though they did not keep their undefeated streak, the team has looked at the loss as an opportunity to better themselves.
“Physically, we’re definitely the best team in the state. [In our last game] we got beat on the mental side, but I think it was a good, humbling experience. Now, we can learn from our loss,” said Blake McCarthy, sophomore.
Mentally tough games are when having good teammates matters the most. Players have to remember that they can’t get mad at each other for little mistakes.
“You have to be really forgiving on the court, and you can’t hold any outside grudges while playing,” said Gunner Mullins, freshman.
Practices are where things can get interesting, with every player on the team having the desire to win.
“We’re all really competitive, so it can get pretty intense at practice. The competition is what bonds our team,” McCarthy said.
Luckily, many players already are friends outside of the team, and practice is just another excuse to hang out while working towards the same goal.
“It’s great bonding. I feel like before the season, I wasn’t as close with them, but now we’re a lot closer,” said Preston Delly, sophomore.
While volleyball is a very complex sport at this level, the gameplay is not what players always struggle with. Sometimes, they have to adapt in order to get along with their own teammates.
“The actual act of playing volleyball isn’t that difficult, but learning to play as a team is what we’ve been working on,” Delly said.
Playing as a team is one of the key aspects to winning a match. In order to do that, players make sure that they build connections whenever they can.
“It’s important to keep relationships strong, on and off the court,” Mullins said.
According to the boys on JV, all it takes is players having the ability to talk with each other to be set up for success.
“Keep everybody up on communicating, because the more you talk, the more fun it is,” McCarthy said.
