Flora Chung

Opposite June Park and middle blocker Haydn Mangione time their jump for the perfect block. June calls “touch” after he softens the spike. The defense uses this opportunity to counterattack.

The DIS boys’ volleyball varsity squad traveled to Busan Foreign School (BFS) for the Busan Invitational Tournament to compete for the trophy from Oct. 27 to 28. Five schools gathered from around the nation: DIS, BFS, Handong International School (HIS), and two newer schools Fayston Preparatory School (FPS) and Cornerstone Collegiate Academy of Seoul (CCAS).

Jets flew through the first day round-robin with all victories and no losses. They placed in the first seed and went home prepared for the Saturday finals. 

Day two, DIS took the first game against FPS 2:0 and faced Handong International School (HIS) in the semi-finals. HIS, highly motivated due to their loss in the SKAC finals, sought to dethrone the Jets. 

The game started off tight upon the ref’s whistle. The ball rallied as both teams focused on each point. Senior Juan Cortez (number 24) and junior Ethan Rossmeisl (number 5) led the gap and ended the first set with a win.

HIS quickly recovered and fought back in a close second set. HIS outside Daniel Park (number 4) spiked strong.  The new HIS strategy with precise tips and powerful hits stumped the DIS boys. Even with the Jets’ best effort, HIS took the second set with a score of 25-23. 

Both teams shook off their nerves as the third set began. Hard spikes, close rallies, and pin-point serves unfolded. After minutes of back and forth that seemed like hours, DIS lost the final set by 15:11. The varsity volleyball team faced their first sour loss. The defeat hit the team hard. Because the tournament ran with double-elimination rules, the squad sought revenge in the finals. 

“It was my first loss in my entire volleyball career. I’ve never lost before, and just that weight of ‘if I did that one thing better’ really really got to me. I was motivated and ready. As the second we lost, I was thinking what are we going to do differently in the finals, what can we do to beat them and it paid off,” freshman middle blocker Haydn Mangione (number 58) said.

With fired up passion, DIS beat BFS 2-0 for a ticket to the finals. At the revenge championship match, the Jets took the lead early in both the first and the second sets against HIS, thanks to coach Bergan’s cunning new strategies and adjustments. With set scores of 25-18 and 25-19, the Jets declared themselves champions once again.

At the end of the game, both teams expressed respect for each other and shook hands. “Obviously, DIS was the hardest opponent for me. It was definitely the most fun game because we were pretty good too and it was the one game everyone tried their best. Even though at the end we lost, we had a lot of fun,” HIS first-year libero Niklas Gawlick (number 73) said. 

Along with the championship trophy, three DIS players also received all-tournament player medals. Senior Juan Cortez (number 24) and junior Ethan Rossmeisl (number 5) were named MVPs with setter Dylan Wang (number 1) as the captain of the all-tournament team.

“Number 5 Ethan and number 1 Dylan stood out to me because the setter was great and number 5 was definitely hitting the best,” HIS senior ace Josiah “Yoshi” Collier (number 11) said.

As the action-packed volleyball season comes to an end, the boys await their one last tournament in Jeju. In anticipation of the Korea International School Athletics Conference (KISAC) games at Saint Johnsbury Academy Jeju (SJAJ) on Nov. 17, the varsity team continues to train hard to aim for the triple crown.  

Gallery • 11 Photos

Sean Kim

Ace Ethan Rossmeisl leaps in the air to smash the ball strong into the outer court. Setter Dylan Wang shows perfect chemistry with his outside hitter as he gives a flawless set to Ethan.