Highly successful in past years, the varsity boys volleyball team has once again began laying groundwork for this year’s state championship bid in May. The team has high hopes for a spot in the Final Four later this spring. Junior Logan Morris attributes any future success to the time they are putting in.

“We’ve been practicing after school every day for a pretty good amount of time. We have a team group chat going, where we’ve been talking about games, strategy, and what we’re going to do,” Morris said.

Morris says across the program, the boys are looking good and success is achievable at all levels, even with tough competition.

“I think all the teams this year look promising,” Morris said. “[Varsity’s] shooting for a Final Four team. That’s going to be tough competition, because our district is very difficult, but at the same time, I think it’s achievable, and I think we can work towards it.”

Focus is one thing that team will need to keep to ensure a win. For senior Dominic Prince practices will get more intense as the season goes on.

“We have a good shot at Final Four at state, if we focus. I have a pretty good feeling that we can make that,” said Prince. “I’d say if we’re really focused, and if we really want it, we’re gonna get it.”

The team is made up for entirely upperclassmen, and for Prince, this means a lot of leadership on the team.

“This year there’s no phenoms; everyone [on varsity] is either a junior or a senior, which means we have a lot of leadership potential on the team,” Prince said.

For senior Nathan Goestenkors the loss of an all-state libero and several other teammates from last season has changed the team’s dynamic, but the new players are very coachable.

“We picked up some new players who were on JV last year, but we know them very well, so they’re very coachable,” said Goestenkors. “We did lose very good players last year, including our libero who was all-state.”

The beginning of the season does not seem to faze Goestenkors, but that does not mean the season will be an easy one, including games against last year’s state champions.  

“The first four games we have should all be wins, we beat them every year. The only teams that’ll be really tough to beat will be SLUH, who won state last year, Lafayette, and Marquette. Those are three big teams we’re looking to beat,” Goestenkors said.