Boys Volleyball CIF Bound
The Samo Boys Volleyball team finished their regular season with a 17-17 record and a 7-1 record in the Ocean League. Their record in the ocean league gives them the top spot, securing them a spot to compete in CIF playoffs.
A highlight of the season was a tough and closely contested win against Palisades High School, which is one of Samo’s biggest rivals. Through strong hitting and the constant threat of their serve, Samo was able to narrowly win in a game that went to five sets.
A team’s strength this season has been the blocking of the front line, led by juniors Alex Beekman (‘27), Akiva Heller (‘27), Ilan Larson (‘27) and Sean Saunders (‘27). The team has worked on offensive shifts and communication throughout their front line which has made the blocking of this team more effective and efficient.
Through the ups and downs of the season, the outlook on the season has remained high. A recent win streak of three games against Carson, Inglewood and Beverly Hills raised the confidence and poise of the team heading into CIF. Pete Barraza, the varsity team’s head coach, talked about how the team felt before CIF.
“The day before, we had a really great practice and felt really strong heading into CIF,” Barraza said.
On April 28, Samo played Sunny Hills in the first round of Div 4 CIF. Sunny Hills jumped out to a lead in the first set and won in a blowout 25-17. Samo rebounded in the second set and came out strong, but ultimately fell to Sunny Hills 26-24 in this set. This ultimately broke Samo’s spirit and they lost the third set in another blowout 25-14. This ended Samo’s season, earlier than they hoped. Ilan Larsen (‘27) a varsity middle blocker gave his thoughts on this season as a whole.
“Our team grew a lot this year. If I were to look at our team at the first tournament and at our last game I would have thought that we were two completely different teams. Everyone grew so much this year,” Larsen said.
Aayan Lakhani / Contributor
Boys volleyball huddles together at the beginning of a home game.