The Boys Varsity Volleyball Team of UC High hopes to win this year’s CIF Championship by working as a cohesive team.

  “Our athletes hope to work hard as a team, grow together, and win League and CIF. After winning League last year and getting our first banner in years, we have moved up to Division One, so we have our work cut out for us,” explained Varsity Coach Brooke Choi.

   The Boys Varsity Volleyball Team is in the Western League. According to Choi, Western League is arguably one of the toughest in San Diego, but the team thinks that they can rise to the occasion.

   Choi added, “In addition to practices, open communication between coaches and teammates is a must. We meet after every practice and match, and discuss what we want and how to achieve it.”

   “We have almost a whole returning team from last year. Junior Connor Martin is a dynamic all-around player. We added Senior Ryan Damm to the line up who is a calm leader and setter. Donovan Todorov, a middle blocker and hitter, will also contribute to the team’s success,” explained Choi.

   In the first game of the season, the Boys Varsity Volleyball Team played against The Bishop’s School, beating them with a final score of 3-1. “The team felt pretty good about winning our first game, but a little disappointed in ourselves to drop a set to them,” stated Junior James McMillan.

   During the first game, the team made many good plays which definitely helped them win. “Some good plays that we had were swinging into hands, tooling the block, and we also had a lot of serving runs,” commented McMillan.

   “In playing volleyball, you have to be able to let things go. You can’t focus on the last play, because it’s just gone, and you have to be ready for the next thing,” explained Sophomore Blaise Adona.

   Since it’s the beginning of the new season, the team feels that they can work on a few things as a whole. “We need to work on our team chemistry,” said Junior Donovan Todorov.

   “The team can work on blocking, passing, and hitting a little more,” added McMillan.

   Adona said, “My personal goal this season is to get better and to just have fun.”

   Even though the team has won their first game, they aren’t resting while ahead; they’re still pounding the pavement and giving 110 percent in all of their practices. “Although we moved to Division One, I expect us to be very competitive. Every match will be a challenge and an opportunity to get stronger,” Choi commented.

   “As of now, we don’t exactly know how we’re going to do in this season, but I’m glad we got off to a strong start,” said McMillan.

   “We are improving. We learned what we need to improve on from our recent tournament,” said Adona.