Coaches: Albert Soliguen (head coach), Victoria Guillory (assistant coach)
Top Returning Players: Augustine Cho (11), Ryan Mesnik (12), Lucas Saab (11), Jake Sueki (10)
Top Newcomers: Christian Lee (9), Parker Mesnik (10)
Last Season: The Lancers took home the Freeway League title with a 9-1 record and an overall non-league 24-5 record. The team lost in the second round of CIF Division 3 playoffs to Bishop Alemany High School.
Outlook: Remaining in Division 3 for a second straight year, the boys volleyball team hopes to end its last Freeway League season as undefeated champions. The team’s short term goal for CIF is to get past the second round of Division 3 playoffs, and its overall goal is to win a CIF championship again.
To prepare for these goals, the team’s returners and newcomers took part in the Garden Grove High School Summer League in June, alongside the summer camp at Sunny Hills for returning players and those trying out on Monday, July 24-Thursday, Aug. 3.
“That was the first time our program was able to compete in the [summer] league just because it lined up at the same time as our summer camp,” Soliguen said. “One of the benefits of playing in a summer league gives me a preview of what our team will look like and the potential we have.”
Outside hitter Cho said the program helped bring the team closer together for this season.
“I think the program definitely let the players get to know each other more and helped the team’s chemistry,” the junior said.
The Lancers also decided to pioneer beach volleyball into this school year’s preseason to prepare as they won the 2023 Greater Whittier Beach Volleyball League team championship at Fullerton College.
“Beach volleyball really helped all of us improve in our mechanics and skills on the court overall,” Cho said.
Outside hitter captain Ryan Mesnik holds high hopes for the team as its leader this season.
“At the moment, I think we can work on our serving since our serving is kind of inconsistent,” he said. “As captain, I think building on each game that we have and each practice is important.”
The players’ individual skills is another area of focus for this season, Soliguen said.
“Being good at scrappy plays where it gets chaotic and being able to convert on those plays is going to be key this year,” the coach said.
Another key is preventing the other team from scoring as much as possible, Soliguen said.
“The reason I think our defense could improve is because we’re starting to play a lot of better teams from the L.A. section and even further down south, so I’m trying to expose the team to more high caliber players,” he said.
The Lancers (24-5 in non league play) will dive into their first Freeway League match against Sonora High School at home on Tuesday, March 12, at 5:30 p.m.
