JV boys’ volleyball (21-5) defeated Irvine High 2-0 during its game of the month on April 11 in the gym. Their next game will take place on April 18 at 3:30 p.m. against Servite High at the home stadium. With a large crowd cheering them on, the players were energized and played one of their best games of the season.

“We definitely improved a lot, and because the turnout was really good we had a lot of energy to play with, so we wanted to show the fans a good game,” co-captain and sophomore Jeffrey Chen said. “One year experience does a lot for all of us.”

During the game, sophomore Kaveh Wojtowich and co-captain and sophomore Mohsen Hashemi defended well by blocking many spikes from the opposing team. Many players displayed their strengths in hope of working towards becoming well-rounded and varsity-ready by stepping up and filling in roles wherever needed, even if that is not their natural position. Throughout practices the players keep in mind to work hard and play hard, practice like they play and focus. From last year, the players have shown improvement on the court as well as together as a team through working on communication and team bonding.

“We’ve definitely gotten a lot better since last year’s season. It’s gotten more serious for the whole team, and we play a lot better as a team,” Hashemi said. “We had no chemistry last year, and everything has gotten better: passing, serving, hitting.”

Throughout the season and in preparation for the game, the team has worked towards improving in specific areas such as passing, but has mainly worked towards enhancing its knowledge on what to do in unusual situations such as if a setter or hitter is not in his position at the time. The players have learned how to work together on the court and step up to fill certain roles when necessary.

“What we’ve been talking about with our team is trying to make sure we are varsity ready because our season is pretty much over, so we were looking at working on skills with players that don’t do those skills very often,” head coach Eric Graham said. “For example, yesterday you might have seen Saif [Habibeh] throw up a great set, even though he’s not a setter. We’re going to be working on those skills, so we’re more varsity-ready by next year.”