The boys’ varsity volleyball team participated in the Malibu Tournament on March 2. They swept the competition, winning against Foothill Tech, San Marino, University Prep, Dana Hills and Malibu High School. They only lost two games against San Juan Hills. The tournament brought the team’s overall record to 8-2-1 for the season so far.

In the match against Foothill Tech, the squad struggled in the first set, losing 26-28. However, they were able to overcome this challenge by dominating the next two sets 25-10 and 15-5.

Outside hitter Alex Rho ’25 said that working together with the team led to their win.

“We had a rough start, but it was when we started playing as a team instead of individually that we were able to pull away for our victory,” Rho said.

The team continued to dominate against San Marino. In their first game, they swept the competition in the first set by winning 25-23, but the game ended in a tie when Marino won the second set 21-25. In their second game against Marino, they pulled through a victory winning both sets 25-12 and 26-24.

The team suffered two losses to San Juan Hills. In the first game, they lost the first set by 20-25 and the second by 16- 25. Even though they continued to lose two more sets during the second game by 17-25 and 14-16, they made a comeback in another set, winning 25-19.

Although the team’s losses were tough, Rho says the team’s love for the sport kept him going.

“The simple reason for why we were able to stay positive through the rough patches during the game was because it was fun,” Rho said. “The intensity, adrenaline and the cheering. All of it was thrilling for all of us, and it gave us the energy to keep fighting to win.”

The team swept University Prep winning both sets 25-6 and 25-13.

They maintained their dominance winning 25-11 and 25-14 against Dana Hills as well as 25- 10 and 25-16 against Malibu.

Outside Hitter Wilson Federman ’24 said that the tournament was a great opportunity for the team to grow.

“We came into the tournament knowing we had a chance to win it all,” Federman said. “We also knew that we were missing [Victor Lowe ’24], and we had a freshman starting, so there was bound to be a learning curve. We grew more confident with each game, and the team was getting along and playing really well the whole time.