The atom’s new boys volleyball team’s season ended on Octs. 29th. The team ended with a 10-2 record, winning most of their games.
The team was organized and put together by Senior Tim Aquino. The team is composed of his friends from Annandale, this leads to great team chemistry on the court.
“Our team chemistry was a big strong suit for our team. We had some rebuttals but solved them and focused on winning more than anything else” said Aquino.
Senior Quang Bui said, “our first volleyball season as a brand new team went pretty well overall. We were able to come together quickly, our practices helped us learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”
With the team having only 1 season together 10-2 is a very impressive record. “Everyone knows their role on our team be it if you’re on the court or on the bench. We all played to win and that’s what really brought us together and our love for the sport” Aquino added.
Despite having such a strong record, the team was new and faced some struggles.
Bui said, “Our biggest struggle as a volleyball team this year was overcoming injuries. It seemed like everytime we started to hit our stride and develop, our key players would get injured or sick and we’d lose them for a few games.”
Since the team was founded by an Annandale High School student, a coach would not always be present. This led to team instructed practices.
“The best part of the season was when we had self instructed practice without the coach, then going to games without a coach and it was just the team figuring out things on our own.” Said Senior Kevin Nguyen
Before the team could even practice they would have to find gym space to practice.
Aquino said, “Another big struggle we faced was getting more time playing volleyball. With having to balance gym time it was very hard for us to have practices and we could only manage at most 2 per week.”
The team still had great fun together and the club had meaning outside of volleyball.
Bui added, “For me the most fun part of this season was getting to bond with teammates on and off the court. I love how we’ve really come together as a team not just through practices and games but also through team dinners, car rides to games, and inside jokes.”
Aquino, the founder of the team, was a lead player for the team and brought great success to the court.
The team was very proud of their performance and their overcoming of injuries and setbacks. They plan to hand off the team to a new captain next year and remain successful. With the team being made up of mainly seniors, new people will have to find their way to the sport and try it out. Aquino hopes after he leaves Annandale the team still remains a success.