Boys varsity volleyball enters this upcoming season with high hopes. They ended last year with a surprising loss in the first round of the postseason to Mascenic. The Owls had a 1 set lead for most of the game until the fifth set, where they would go up 14 to 8 but end up losing 16-14. They even could have played a lower seed in the first round. They could have gotten a better seed if they could win the road. They won the majority of their games at home but lost the majority on the road. The team might not have always been there mentally but winning the majority of their games based on skill is a light of hope heading into the next season.

The team says that this season is different. After losing one senior, the team is coming back with pretty much all of its core players returning. Tryouts will do nothing but help the team as it gives them depth and talent to work with. If the Owls can do more substitutions and have their best front row guys there and their best backrow guys there, they will be a tough team to go through.

The Owls have been turning last year’s bitter ending and putting it into fuel for this season. They have been having open gyms for 2 months before the season which is something we haven;t seen before. Their goal is to have tryouts not be the first time a ball is touched and to get a jump start on the year.

 Starting outside hitter Spencer Sierra said, “we were very young last year, we had a lot of raw talent that won us games but we couldn’t put it all together enough to win some of the big ones. Now that we are juniors and seniors we are gonna be better.”  

Libero Cam Nazarian said, “I feel like the pressure has lightened up. We all have experience and understand the expectations. We aren’t afraid to mess up anymore and have been more focused on improving our game.” 

Coach Stoodly had elevated the team expectations this season. This will be her second full season coaching the boys team. She also understands what the Owls can accomplish and what it takes to win. Using her competitive volleyball background and having coached great teams prior to this one, the team believes in her as a coach and she believes in the team. With the whole program working as a cohesive unit it will be exciting to see what they can accomplish during the upcoming season.