Every day is different for the boys varsity volleyball team and the team’s performance reflects how prepared the athletes are that day, boys varsity head coach Naomi Lacuzong said. As of currently, the team’s overall record is 8-5 wins to losses and are 3rd in the league, according to MaxPreps.
This year, the hopes for the boys varsity volleyball team are to win leagues and get an automatic bid to CCS, Lacuzong said.
“Last year, we missed it,” Lacuzong said. “We ended up second in the league with four league losses. But this year, I hope that we can top the league and hopefully stay competitive in our non-league matches, and win at least half of those, so we could also qualify to playoffs.”
Practice for boys volleyball happens every weekday and sometimes on Saturdays, senior and varsity outside hitter Jason Nguyen said.
“We either have practice at the Sports Center, or we have it here (at the MHS large gym),” Nguyen said. “Either way, we have practice for two hours. We’re doing drills and other exercises, and scrimmaging, and then we go to the weight room for one hour, and we do lifting. And then the hour after, we watch film for our prior games or upcoming ones.”
In terms of improving as a whole team, he believes that keeping up energy will be key, Nguyen said. It reminds his teammates not to give up, and that there is still a chance to win, he said. As for their strengths, the team works hard and comes to practice knowing what skills they have to fix, he added.
“In terms of strengths and weaknesses, I think I’m pretty good at bringing some energy and trying to make sure that everybody keeps the energy up,” Nguyen said. “Some weaknesses are consistency — making sure that I can be a teammate that my teammates can trust.”
To reach these goals, the volleyball team must hold each other accountable and make sure that no one fools around, Nguyen said.
“Volleyball is a team sport, so it requires some chemistry, that can come in team bonding,” Nguyen said. “I think that really helps us. It helps us have that connection on the court.”
Junior and varsity middle blocker Toby Chen believes the team has good chemistry, Chen said.
“I feel like we’ve known each other for a long time,” Chen said. “I’ve played with these guys since I was in middle school. So, we have good chemistry on and off the court.”
One thing that Chen believes his team can work on is consistency, he said. The team has some really good games and some really bad games, and thus needs to work on being consistently somewhere in the middle, he added.
“There’s going to be hurdles, no matter if the team has good pieces or not,” Lacuzong said. “I think this year we have a lot of good pieces. Some of them have been on the first team that we had two years ago, which is really good because it allows us to kind of build them up, and they’ve been here before.”
Since the older varsity players have been playing at a high caliber for a while, the hurdle for coach Lacuzong and the junior varsity coach trying to build a team up with the new players from junior varsity, Lacuzong said. The older and newer players need more time to get touches in practice and quality repetitions with each other, she added.
“It does get a little stressful,” Lacuzong said. “Obviously, the guys are the ones playing, but being there for them — (I’m) trying to push them in a sense that lets them know that we can win this and trying to give them the confidence to do so.”
However, a coach can only do so much to instill confidence in their players, Lacuzong said. To become even better, her players must have confidence in their own abilities and play with more aggression, she added.
“We’ve gotten to that point a few times where we’ve either won the first set and ended up losing the game in tight, four sets,” Lacuzong said. “Or, we’ll lose the first, and we push back, and we end up pretty close to the middle of the game, and they end up pulling away.”
This year, Lacuzong also believes her team improved their ability to put the ball away and has reduced unforced errors, she said. The boys need to continue doing these skills at a higher level because their team will face better non-league teams that will hopefully prepare them to win the league, she added.
“I think practicing against each other, they do have a lot of competitiveness between each other,” Lacuzong said. “They also know each other, see each other every day. So when it comes to game time, the friendly faces go away, and they’re ready to go, and it’s just like, how are they going to bring that confidence and their own abilities?”
For Chen, the best part of being on the team is getting to know his teammates every day, he said.
“I’m enjoying it,” Chen said. “It’s my last year with the seniors that I’ve known forever, like they encouraged me to start playing in seventh grade. They’re the reasons why I’m here, and I’m enjoying it. I’m enjoying every moment of it.”
