Tough competition prepares volleyball for league games

Chelsea BrandweinStaff WriterThe Samo boys’ volleyball team took the challenge of participating in the annual Best of the West Invitational tournament at San Diego’s Poway High School against several top competitors. The boys took fourth place in their pool and seventh place in the tournament.“We played against some of the best teams in California while we were there. Having the experience of competing against high quality talent like that, will really help come CIF playoff time,” senior Jack Cramer said.The Vikings lost to Westlake in a first round match, 25-15, 25-19. In their second round, the boys battled the Newport Harbor Sailors, resulting in their loss, 25-15, 25-23. In their last match against Servite, victory narrowly slipped from their hands, 25-22, 25-23.“We weren’t going in expecting to win it, the teams were really good and we just used [the tournament] as an experience to find out what we need to work on,” sophomore Spencer Cramer said.Four-year varsity starter Charles Levy acknowledges ways to improve the team’s performance in future games.“We need to become more consistent in close games,” Levy said.“From a pure talent perspective, we line up pretty closely with a lot of the teams. What we lack right now is the consistency to be able to compete with them for the entirety of a match. We’ll get there,” Jack Cramer said.Recently the team has suffered from injuries. Senior Eric Barber has not been playing since he incurred a knee injury early in the season. Senior David Cline was sidelined by an injured sternum.At the boys’ latest game at Culver City, many Samo parents came out to support the team and looked on as the boys beat Culver City 3-1. With aggressive attacking by seniors Charles Levy (average 11 kills per game) and Jack Cramer (average 8 kills per game), and dominant blocking by sophomore Dane Keckin, the Vikings won the game, 23-25, 25-18, 25-16, and 28-26.“It was a good battle. We had our ups and downs. If we play more consistently mentally and physically we will go far this year,” middle blocker, junior Trevor Pye said.cbrandwein@thesamohi.com