Boys’ volleyball finishes league season with victories

Chelsea BrandweinSports EditorThe boys’ volleyball team stands undefeated in Ocean League play and ranks fourth in the Southern Section. The team is gearing up for the next part of their journey, the first round of California Interscholastic Federation tournament [CIF], and the Vikings remain confident about their standing in the playoffs.“I think we have the potential to win CIF if we can maintain our focus through each and every match,” senior co-captain Trevor Pye said. “If we can serve in, minimize our hitting errors and pass consistently we will win.”For the past few months, senior libero Cody O’Connell has been suffering from sciatica, a back condition that causes a shooting pain to run down his left leg, and has recently confirmed that he will not play for the remainder of the season.“I have been unable to do anything physically demanding these past few months and I have lost some of the strength I previously had,” O’Connell said.Junior opposite hitter, Dane Keckin believes that O’Connell’s absence has crippled the team.“Cody played a huge role last year in helping our team earn the championship. He started every game last year as our libero. Because he had so much experience we were counting on him to help lead the team,” Keckin said. “Luckily our new libero Julian Mickelson has done a great job of filling that void. He has really caught on fast and stepped up his game.”Keckin believes that the team’s spring break hiatus set them back a little but says that the team has now buckled down in preparation for CIF.“We are all a little on edge right now which is definitely making our practices more intense and helping us get better,” Keckin said. “Everyone seems to be peaking at the right time.”cbrandwein@thesamohi.com