Boys' volleyball eager to repeat 2004 success

For Blair's varsity boys' volleyball team, 2004 was definitely a season to remember: The team went 10-2 in the regular season, captured a divisional trophy, was seeded third in the county, and broke a five-year playoff drought by advancing as far as the third round. With the majority of its starting lineup returning to the court this year, the Blazers are poised to repeat its 2004 success once more.

Senior standouts James Lee and Paul Wong, both with Junior Olympic experience, are returning to lead the Blazers' offense from the outside position, and senior Randy Li will be starting once again on the right side. Sophomore Jay Chang and senior Kevin Kahn will continue to anchor the team's defense, and in fact, the only major changes to the Blazers' lineup will be in the middle and setting positions, which were left vacant by the graduation of James Gao, Tim Yang, and Bailey Zhang in 2004.

Those changes, however, create the only real possibility for weakness on the Blazers' court besides defense, which has always been a bit shaky compared to the Blazers' strong hitting. "We use our middles probably the most out of any school out there,” Kahn said, "and Bailey and James [Gao] were a major part of our offense.” After losing both Gao and Zhang, "we have a lot to work on for blocking,” Lee added, "but it's getting there.

Despite this change, however, Coach JJ Rathnam is confident in his team's success this season. "The majority of our team is back,” he said, "and we're still one of the top teams in the county.” Although the Blazers will have competition from other traditional powerhouses such as Churchill, Richard Montgomery and Kennedy, Rathnam is not too worried: "I'm pretty sure we'll make playoffs,” he said, "and our goal is to make it to the second round.” From that point onward, Rathnam believes that everything will depend on the strength of Blair's new setter, sophomore Tim Lee: "If he does well,” Rathnam explained, "we'll go far.”