Boys volleyball team takes on team from down under

On Monday, Sept. 25, the boys volleyball team of St. Laurence’s College, an all boys school in Brisbane, Australia, played an exhibition match against the Samo boys volleyball team and Samo won 3-0.St. Laurence’s College head coach, Danny O’Toole, first contacted Samo coach Liane Sato after viewing the athletics page on the Samo website. “This is now our fifth time on tour. In 2009, we went to Hong Kong, China. In 2011, we went to Paris and Rome. In 2013, we played in Rio and Buenos Aires. In 2015, we went to Istanbul, Paris and Berlin. Every year we try to go somewhere,” O’Toole said.O’Toole organizes all the trips the team goes on together. “There’s hotels, and all the tourist stuff, and that takes some time to plan. The kids themselves pay for the trips, so a lot of the times they have part time jobs, but the parents also contribute,” O’Toole said.“I send out emails to all different schools, and Liane was very good about getting back to me,” O’Toole said. “We made this happen very quickly. She’s been very hospitable. All the schools we went to in New York and Los Angeles have been great experiences”.“It’s fascinating to play against international teams because they have a different style of play. Our team is always open and excited to play any international team. When the coach contacted us we jumped at the opportunity,” Sato said. “A few years ago the Samo boys volleyball team traveled to Nicaragua and played against some of their top high schools. We would love the chance to travel to Australia and play teams over there”.Coach Brett Holzheimer of the Australian team is happy to have the opportunities to travel. “My favorite part of the experience has been the hospitality from the other schools,” Holzheimer said. “It’s been awesome having the potluck tonight put on by the Samo team and their families.” “In Australia, volleyball is a growing sport. A lot of our kids who come to our school have never played or seen volleyball. When they get to high school they really enjoy it, so we like to take them to countries where volleyball is more popular. So, we take them to countries like this and they say ‘Oh wow, maybe if i'm good enough I could play in college or get a contract in Europe’. The kids come back with so much confidence after getting spanked by a team, it helps their game, “ O’Toole said.The players also enjoy traveling internationally and experiencing the different cultures around the world. “My favorite part was experiencing all the culture here in America, and specifically California. The beaches are amazing as well,” St. Laurence’s College team captain, David Van Zealand, said. Before and after the game, the Australian team also enjoyed exploring parts of Los Angeles they had never been to before. “We went to a Dodger’s game, explored Santa Monica, went to Universal Studios Hollywood and the universal walk,” Van Zealand said. The team consists of students from seventh to twelfth grade and they all play and practice together. Corbin Dolan, a ninth grader, has played volleyball for the St. Laurence’s College team since he was in seventh grade. “The younger players come because they want to learn, because their skill levels are developing, so they’re here to learn from the older players,” O’Toole said.“It’s good practice playing with the older players on the team. I’ve got a lot of experience playing on this team,” Dolan said. “Playing against international teams is always a win win for both teams. They had some height and talent on their squad. They played really tough but our offense was more balanced than theirs,” Sato said.“We all had a great time playing against a foreign school. Along with getting to see a different playing style,” Samo boys volleyball player Jake Mitchell (’19) said. “We really enjoyed getting to know the team and talking about what we do on a daily basis, any differences in how we speak, and go about our lives”.During the game, both teams fought it out and kept the score close. During the first set, Samo won with a score of 25-17.“Our energy was a bit low, and we were a bit down when we were losing points. Our strength was at the end of the game, we got back in,” Dolan said.In the second set, St. Laurence’s College put up a strong block and kept Samo on their toes. After battling it out, Samo once again came through to win 25-18.Once the third set started, St. Laurence’s College was fighting to stay in the game. The teams fought it out. With the teams working their hardest for every point, they stayed head to head at the beginning of the set. Samo kept swinging at the ball and put up strong blocks, and won the set 25-21, finishing the game with a win for Samo.“I thought we competed quite strongly with our block,  I think our offense had some good attack options. But their serve was very strong, so it’s difficult passing under all that pressure,” O’Toole said.“The Samo team played well considering this was their first time playing together since last season,” Sato said. “This year we have a group of guys with great attitudes who will work hard together”.“I think we played pretty well considering the little amount of practice we had prior to the game. It was a good chance for us to improve our chemistry and I think that in itself was our biggest strength”, Mitchell said.After the game, there were no hard feelings, seeing that the Samo boys and girls volleyball teams hosted a potluck, that turned into a dance party, for the St. Laurence's College team. The teams had an opportunity to get to know each other of the court, and it made the experience even more fun for both teams.“Overall, I thought it was a very memorable experience. We got to meet great people playing a sport that we love, which is something that not many student athletes can say,” Mitchell said.Having the opportunity to play against a team from another country is certainly not something a high school teams normally gets. The game against St. Laurence’s College was hard fought, and a great experience for both teams, on and off the court.