UC High’s Boys Volleyball Team starts the season off strong and sets their sights on finishing near the top of their League. 

   “This season is going well so far,” Head Coach Aaron Hartin stated. “We are around even in terms of wins and losses. We have a lot of young players who are playing for the first time on varsity, so this year is a team-building year but we also have some great juniors and seniors as well,” he continued.

   Senior Phillip Allen agreed with Hartin when he said,  “We have a pretty good team, and I’m hoping we can get a League Championship this year, which I believe we’ll be able to do. For example, Dash [Martin] is a really consistent hitter. Whenever he’s in the front row, he always gets a lot of scores. Then there’s Nate [Muttera], a key member of our team who brings everyone together and puts in the work on the court. Our Freshman Libero Trinton is also great. He has been probably the best server on our team and really holds his own. Lastly but not least, Mikey [Magepali]. He’s our team’s hype man and is always keeping our spirits up and cheering us on as loud as he can.”

   “The best season I’ve ever played is this season,” said Junior Shahab Asgari. “And the best game this season was definitely against Coronado. So far we’ve played around five matches with two tournaments, and overall we’ve won some and the few that we did lose were very close games. My predictions for this season is that we’re gonna have a lot of tough games coming up, but our team has a lot of good chemistry and skills so it’s going to be a competitive but fun season as well.”

   The team’s sense of camaraderie and unity is its strongest quality, keeping the squad together and coming out on top. “This year’s team is a real mixed bag,” said Hartin. “We have seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen who are all playing on this team, but somehow they have great chemistry. They really support one another and we are having a great time.”

   “A key difficulty that comes with volleyball is communicating with your team,” said Asgari. “Communication is a key factor to volleyball to which many teams struggle with, and up to a certain level, there are many tall and athletic players that you have to face off against,” he continued.

   Allen said, “You need to be able to talk and cooperate with your team. Having good chemistry is vital.” He added, “Also, being able to be consistent with your hittin

g, blocking, passing, serving, and setting is extremely important. A team that knows how to work off of each other well and can keep the ball in play no matter what’s handed to them is a team that will win.”

  Hartin said, “Volleyball players need to be quick, agile, strong and many of the players need to be tall and/or have the ability to jump so we can play above the net.” He continued, “Also, volleyball is a sport that involves a lot of skill. Serving, passing, setting, hitting, blocking and digging are the basic skills in volleyball and they all take years of practice to be able to do them at varsity level. That’s why I’m so proud of how well my team has been as of right now, and I cannot wait to see what the rest of this season has in store for us.”