Swinging into the season with an intensely fought 3-1 loss against Scripps Ranch, Feb. 28, boys volleyball is working to find their footing.

Libero Evan Moon (11) said that through efficient serve-receive and lethal hits, the Wolverines won the first set 29-27 in a tie-breaker.

“[The players on the court] were all in their great mindset in working together as a team and really trying their best to score every point,” Moon said.

In the second set, which saw a 25-22 loss, co-captain and libero Jamie Bae (11) said the team’s performance began to falter.

“It’s just that we need to control more of the errors on our side,” Bae said. “We played good volleyball, but we made too many minor errors [involving] serving and netting.”

According to outside hitter Nolan Allos (12), the remaining two sets’ losses of 25-17 and 25-23 were the product of inconsistent output.

“I think a big thing [we need to work on] is conditioning, making sure players aren’t getting tired on the court and are staying dialed in the whole three sets that we need to win,” Allos said.

Bae said the loss starkly contrasted last year’s easy 3-0 win against Scripps Ranch.

“Last year, we swept them in three, but we also had five seniors on the court at a time,” Bae said. “We had a very strong team last year. Scripps Ranch only lost one senior, so it’s pretty much the same team — they’re definitely in Open Division this year. Our biggest change is just our players.”

With the graduation of 13 seniors last year, Bae said the team is still rebuilding.

“Last year, we had returning three-year starters,” Bae said. “We had a bunch of experience on the court, which just comes with time. We just need more confidence, more experience, and more of a feel for the court and the game.”

Allos said that to achieve this, leadership is key.

“I think it’s very easy to get isolated in a volleyball game,” he said. “[You can] kind of turn away from your team and get angry, and that’s where a good captain [or] someone with experience can really step up and help you out and pat you on the back.”

According to Moon, the team curates this supportive environment by keeping each other positive.

“It’s not only [about] working hard, it’s sometimes a mental thing,” Moon said. “If you’re feeling down in a game or did bad in practice, you’ve always got to have someone to be able to help you up.”

Bae said that this mutual support is fueled by their shared drive.

“One thing that’s good about our lack of experience as a team is that all of our players have no ego, no selfishness, no stubbornness,” Bae said. “We’re all looking to get better and I think we’re feeling that energy off each other and we’re improving a lot.”

Having to fill gaps in a new starting lineup, Bae said that the players are putting in more effort.

“In the past years, there’s always been the starting six,” Bae said. “There’s always been the main guys, but especially this year, everyone has a chance. It’s just whoever steps up and works as hard as possible. The starting six is not decided [because] we don’t have those main team players. We have everyone working hard, so it’s anyone’s game.”

Bae said that the JV team assembled many exceptional players; these players, now on varsity, bring a new enthusiasm.

“I would say energy is the biggest thing [the new players bring],” Bae said. “This new wave of players brings so much hope and so much excitement into our practices that we’re not just going through the motions — we’re in it to win it.”

During the Scripps Ranch game, Moon said this eagerness allowed for their unrelenting offense.

“We didn’t really have any first-game nervousness,” he said. “We just kept on hitting and swinging.”

Bae said that he believes the team’s positive energy will carry them through the season.

“We have a lot of grit and determination,” he said. “A lot of people are thinking that this is going to be a fall off [because] we lost so many seniors, but we’re just trying to prove them wrong. We work really hard at practice, our defense is really scrappy and we get all the balls up. Our determination is what’s going to really get us through this season.”