Boys' volleyball receives long-awaited CIF rings

Gregory BoehmStaff WriterWhile hundreds of students rushed to Santa Monica College for Samo's first football game, the 2010-2011 boys' volleyball team waited anxiously to receive their CIF championship rings.The team won the 2011 Southern California Division IV championships late last year. Since then, seven of the team members have graduated.“At first, you know I was thinking, I’m going back to my high school. This could be lame since I’m a college kid  but it ended up being really cool," recent Samo graduate Ryan Odening said.  "I was really excited and everyone was cheering me on. I felt at home and it really shows the great sense of community at Samo.”Odening and his other teammates met the uproarious adulation of their Samo peers and then received their long-awaited blue and gold championship rings.“We were just so excited to finally get our rings. That was what we had waited for so long. Once we won our volleyball game we were just like ‘man, when are we gonna get our rings?’” senior Cody O’Connell said.Regardless of their achievements, the team now has to look to the future and their upcoming volleyball season. According to O’Connell, the team has lost a lot of tall players such as Charles Levy and Eric Barber. The team will have to make up for this loss with improved ball control and mobility.It seemed that the true meaning of this ceremony for the players wasn’t in receiving the attention of their peers, but rather the shiny rings that they can now sport.“The ceremony was nice," senior Ethan Kahan said. "The rings were nicer.”gboehm@thesamohi.com