Boys' volleyball prepares to ace the season

Samo’s varsity boys’ volleyball team is ready to jump into their next season after finishing second place in the league last year. Consisting of many of last year’s starters, the team is at a great advantage to start the season. With teammates who know each other well, co-captains Jake Mitchell (’19) and Percy Bickford (’19) are confident they will play together cohesively. “We are friends both on and off the court and are not afraid to hold each other accountable. This year, we are bringing back most of our starters and hope to potentially win a CIF championship,” Mitchell said. Coach Liane Sato is thrilled by the bond the boys hold and believes it will help the team go far this season.  “One of the best traits I like about our team is that all of our players across the program are extremely supportive of each other. The older kids have done a great job of being role models to our younger players,” Sato said. The team suffered an unfortunate loss last year in the first round of CIF Division I playoffs, but are eager to come back and show off their hard work in the Division III playoffs this coming season. “We are excited because of our improvement from last year relative to our pool of competition and excellent team chemistry. We believe that we can surprise people this year and maybe even win a CIF title,” Mitchell said. Sato shares the same goals as her co-captains and plans on leading her team to Ocean League and CIF wins. “We want to win Ocean League and CIF. We need to work hard and increase our intensity level every day in practice. We need to be more disciplined with technique and making small changes to become better players individually and as a team,” Sato said.