As the 15 players on the varsity volleyball team met in early February, they knew they had a challenge. Looking around, they didn’t see key starters from the previous year, players like Doug Sabella, Kent Johnson, Mike Vetrone, Jason Chun and Andy Capek.

They also knew they would be playing in the tougher division by virtue of the team’s success the previous year.

Coach Brad Frederickson took account of the crutch that the team possessed, their lack of guidance from previous starters. The main goal of the team was to “have fun and not worry about any losses.”

The new varsity players such as senior Ryan Pak, juniors Daniel Chou and Nathan Kim, sophomore Garrett Huening and freshman Steven Sun were overwhelmed by the teams they faced which attributed to their first seven games being losses. Although they gave it their all, they could not overcome their weakness which became each other.

“We weren’t doing so well because we needed time to adapt to the playing styles of every player,” said junior outside hitter James Kim.

Getting to know each other from practices and team events helped build chemistry that made the season worth playing.

“We started becoming more comfortable playing with each other,” said Sun, “ and the games became a lot more fun.”

By the end of the season, the Falcons ended up having a 6-17 record. The season began poorly, but after building a relationship, the team was able to have fun and win games, the ideal hope of the coach. Next year, the team will have to make the same adjustments, including finding a new setter and libero and hope it happens even quicker.

“It will be different without the seniors because they were the leaders of the team,” said Sun. “We are going to have to step it up.”