Spiking to win

After a tumultuous 8-5 season that ended in a first-round playoff loss to Bethesda-Chevy Chase last year, the boys' volleyball team enters the 2004 season with a strong roster of ten returning players and several promising new additions. Though the team faces a tough schedule, with games against county powerhouses such as Churchill and Wootton, Coach J.J. Rathnam is confident that his players will step up to the challenge and prove their abilities on the court.

The team has been working extensively on conditioning in anticipation of this season's longer, 25-point rally score games. "I don't want to use as many subs as last year," Rathnam says, "So the starting team needs to be stronger because they'll have more individual time on the court than last year." Most of the boys have also been attending Rathnam's weekly open-gym sessions at Churchill, where they have scrimmaged players from across the county to improve their skills and teamwork.

Though the team has not yet picked captains nor determined its starting lineup, Rathnam is well acquainted with most his players and has a good sense of their strengths and weaknesses. "We've got a good blocking game and offense," he says, "better than last year's." While the team has also improved its defensive skills, Rathnam admits that its still suffers from inconsistent passing and digging. "We definitely need to solidify the passing," he says, explaining that the team's offensive power means little if cannot move the ball to the setter.

"We're pretty athletic and relatively deep," adds senior setter and third-year player Tim Yang. "We still have to overcome mental errors and defense miscommunications," he says, "but we should be able to do very well in our division and season."

The team will scrimmage at Walter Johnson on March 18 and at Springbrook on March 19. Its first game will be home against Gaithersburg at 6 p.m. on March 23.