The Men’s Varsity volleyball Bulldogs have continued to impress and strive towards greatness after another positive season and playoff berth in their young program’s history. After another winning season, a strong performance in a tough league, the Bulldogs looked back and reflected upon their season.
“I would say our team chemistry [was stronger]. Last year we didn’t really have that… but it felt like this year we really truly grew into more just teammates and genuinely became friends. I think it showed an impact on the court [since] we were playing together like one unit instead of six individual players,” said Brandon Perez (12).
A strong locker room bond can really make the difference between winning and losing games, and maximizing the best out of your players. If your setter and spiker have bad chemistry, the offense will never be utilized to its full potential. But for the Bulldogs that was never the case, and that bond helped to make them the best possible team they could be. But it wasn’t just locker room energy that separated the Bulldogs this year from previous seasons.
“Obviously we got closer as a team, but we started doing weight room early in the season. I think it really helped us,” said Blake Frausto (12).
The season can be long and grueling, and injuries will happen as they are sadly a part of the game. Things like fatigue and soreness can also swing games in one way or another. But one of the best ways to negate this is by building a solid foundation in the weight room. Getting stronger, building endurance, and becoming more flexible are all important things that teams must do, but the weight room also instills discipline into the players, and can even act like a mini-goal off to the side.
One of the ways to help get through the grind that is a season is by doing fun things, whether outside or inside of the sport, and all three following players said that their favorite team memory from this season was getting In-N-Out before one of their hardest games of the season.
“My favorite memory would have to be our coach taking the entire team to get In-N-Out,” said Aiden Coronel (12).
“My favorite memory was eating out, before and after practice, and games with my friends and teammates,” said Perez similarly.
“My favorite memory was getting In-N-Out before our game against Santiago [Corona],” Frausto also said.
The players worked really hard this year and there were definitely results to show for it. Individually, everyone had big moments too.
“My best moment was when Brandon sent me a perfect set and I slammed it into a San Dimas player’s face,” said Coronell.
Yet, the San Dimas game wasn’t just memorable for Coronell, but his teammates as well.
“My best moment was beating San Dimas, since they were talking a lot of smack to us,” said Perez.
“My best moment was getting back-to-back blocks against one of the best hitters I’ve played against to close out a game, and win it three to two,” said Frausto.
The Bulldogs finished the season winning 14 games. This is the third year in a row of them having a winning record, and went on a five game winning streak to start the season. Not only did they get a playoff berth, but they also advanced to the second round of the playoffs. The Bulldogs had a strong senior class and are preparing to reload this next upcoming season. They had underclassmen step up many times this season and they will now take the helm. The Bulldogs finished overall with a 14-12 record, a 3-5 league record, and 381st overall team in California.
