Bump. Set. Spike. After years of being a club sport, boys volleyball has become an official sport at North. Junior Anyu Gong has participated in volleyball for the past two seasons and is planning to continue this year.

“[Boys’ volleyball becoming an official sport] allows us to have better practice timings, so now it’s most likely going to be after school,” Gong said. “We’ll also have an official facility here at North with higher ceilings and multiple nets to play on.”

In previous years, boys’ volleyball has played at the Havoc facilities in town.

“We used to have to play at Havoc, which is a terrible place,” Junior Noah Dornfeld said. “You can barely step a foot outside the line, but now we have North’s gym. We don’t have to play late in the night anymore; we can play right after school, which is really nice.”

Dornfeld joined the team his sophomore year.

“Freshman year, I had these friends Anyu, Ramu, Burhan and Leo; they all played volleyball,” Dornfeld said. “I saw them and I was like, ‘Wow, that looks like fun, I’ve always wanted to play that.’ They helped me, they encouraged me to join next year, so sophomore year I played and I really liked it.”

Sophomore Yuta Kondo was also inspired by others to join the team.

“My brother started playing first, I just started playing after that,” Kondo said.

Senior Yoki Murabayashi is playing for the first time this year as well.

“I’ve always been playing volleyball here and there, and then I heard it’s going to be an actual team this year, so I wanted to give it a try,” Marubayashi said.

Dornfeld explained the benefit of the team being a sanctioned sport.

“With it being an actual sport, we have a greater reach,” Dornfeld said. “So we’ll have better players and a more successful season.”

Dornfeld anticipates a much more successful season than previous years.

“I think as a team, we want to have the basics down,” Dornfeld said. “Last year, we were just willy-nilly on the court. This year we want to run actual plays that can attack our opponents and trick them. That will get a better result in our game.”

Gong also has aspirations for an improved season this year.

“My personal goals would be to improve my jump serve and hitting ability, as well building strong connections with teammates,” Gong said.

Murabayashi added that many of the people on the team were friends before joining.

“We’re already kind of close and being on the same team brings us together, it’s a good experience,” Murabayashi said.

Dornfeld shared how the team connections impact his performance.

“My favorite thing about being on the team is that the team has a lot of my good friends so it’s a really chill environment,” Dornfeld said. “I don’t have to feel stressed about it if I mess up. They’re there to support me and encourage me.”

Gong emphasized how culture impacts the team’s success.

“I like how everyones really connected and how there’s a strong factor of teamwork with each other,” Gong said. “No one can score the point by themselves.”