By: Tyler Dey
The boys volleyball team at South Brunswick High School is comprised entirely of juniors and seniors, but when it comes down to it, they’re all freshman.
That’s because this is the first year South Brunswick will field a varsity boys volleyball team the school has had a girls team for about five years.
Not only is the sport new to the school, but it’s also new to all of the players, according to coach Steve Dentler, who also coaches the Vikings’ junior varsity boys soccer team.
"The biggest difference (between coaching a new program and an established one) is none of the kids on the team have played structured volleyball before," Dentler said. "There’s a lot of court-sense issues a lot of these kids have never had before. They’ve just played it in gym."
Subtleties of the game, such as how the rotation works, when and where substitutions can be made and proper protocol for post-game interaction with opponents have to be worked on in addition to practicing sets, bumps, serves, spikes, digs and blocks.
Of course, such unawareness of a game that can sometimes be seen on TV late at night on ESPN aside from every fourth year at the Olympics and at backyard picnics is hardly unexpected. Mention of the name Karch Kiraly, a mainstay on the U.S. national team for more than a decade spanning the 1980s and ’90s, draws little recognition from the Vikings, Dentler said.
"I don’t even know if a lot of my players have ever seen (Olympic volleyball)," he said. "You can bring up the names, but they don’t know who they are."
While keeping in perspective the fact his team is new, Dentler has been pleased with the progress and ability his team has shown in its two scrimmages.
The SBHS math teacher has been particularly impressed with his setter, senior Drew Arnesen.
"We’ve got a group of seniors that’s fairly talented," Dentler said. "It’s a shame that this is the first year of competition, especially for the seniors."
Arnesen will be setting for outside hitters Darryl Pratt (junior) and Matt Chin (senior). Dentler predicted the rest of his starting lineup would include seniors Wes Barnshaw and Josh Suskin, and junior Mark Mangual.
The rest of the varsity squad is comprised of juniors Enasz Kadziela, David Caley, Tom Lanza, Ray Riego de Dios, Jose Camacho and Andrew Orlando.
"Experience is certainly huge (weakness)," Dentler explained. "We have a very good setter. We’re so new that if you start comparing us to these teams that have been around, everything’s a weakness."
