Volleyball prepares to ace new season

Samo boys volleyball has been training rigorously this past year, after coming off successful seasons in previous years, to prepare as best as they can for the challenging season ahead. Last year, the team finished first in Ocean League and made it to the quarter finals for CIF playoffs. Coach Liane Sato has high hopes for the skilled group of players she has this year. “This season we have a super tough schedule with three high level tournaments and a fairly tough league schedule. This level of competition will prep us for the CIF playoffs,” Sato said. The volleyball team has been conditioning since the beginning of the school year during their offseason to keep their skill level up, in order to have the best chance of going far in Ocean League and CIF playoffs. As the team will be facing some competitive teams this season, having a good work ethic is also important in their pursuit for the championship. “The players on this team are an awesome group of guys. We have a few new faces who have added a new dimension and depth to our squad,” Sato said. The team kicked off their season by entering in two tournaments over the past few weekends to identify the areas that they need to work on most and improve their playing. They took part in the Redondo Preseason Invitational where they finished 3rd in the Silver Division. This past weekend they played in the Dos Pueblos Invitational at UCSB where they lost in the first round of playoffs in the Gold Division. “I am looking forward to playing El Segundo later in the season because we lost to them at a tournament a few weeks ago,” Samo volleyball player Kane Schwengel (’20) said. In order to promote a good team chemistry, the team has attended collegiate level men’s volleyball games at UCLA and USC. Many of the returning players are determined to pass the high bar set for them last year. Although the team has lost a lot of their players from last year, they are still ready for the challenges ahead. Team co-captain Jake Mitchell (’19) is looking forward to watching the team improve. “I am looking forward to watching our team develop and grow,” Mitchell said. “We lost a lot of players from last year. Nonetheless, we still want to compete and experience as much, if not more success than last year.” Their next match will be an away game at Hawthorne High School on March 20.