The boys’ volleyball teams visited Camp Walker for their second friendly of the 2024 season on Oct. 7. Unlike the previous match, JV competed as well. Although the base school only had eleven players, their bench participated against the DIS B-squad. Both prevailed, but JV faced some setbacks.

The youngsters debuted at their season opener against the DMHS varsity reserves. Although they experienced some growing pains, most mistakes coming from serves, they came out on top with scores of 2:1. The ninth-grade newcomers quickly adjusted to a higher net than they played on back in middle school, and they synchronized well with experienced vets. They leaped over the hurdle of connection.

High school rookie Luke Cho said, “It was pretty nerve-wracking at first cause it was my first ever match against DMHS and on the JV team. In the end, it was fun and exciting to have this opportunity…I think we had a lot of areas to improve on such as tip coverages for the upcoming tournaments…We need to get used to working as a team, and to practice even more.”

Next up, the varsity players matched up against the Warriors. Just like the previous friendly, they won 3:0, but this time in a cleaner fashion. The boys tightened up their game and made fewer mistakes. As they pushed deeper into the season, the team’s connection picked up steam. They capitalized on their opponent’s mistakes and put the ball onto the floor every play.

The friendly rivalry proved valuable for both DIS and DMHS. Kayden San Nicolas, DMHS varsity captain, said, “My team is still learning so being able to compete with [the Jets] ] can help us get better. I think going into the second friendly, DIS has definitely been improving and I can see that. Playing against DIS definitely helped as it shows us the level we need to be at as a high school varsity team. Each practice we try to improve and become better. I think the friendlies between DIS and DMHS are helpful in general because it allows each school to gain more experience and practice. We should definitely continue to have these friendlies.”

The base game helped the Jets realize their capabilities. It proved as a mid-season inspection game where teams could see what they needed to improve most and has aided for larger tourneys such as South Korean Association of International Schools (SKAIS) and Korean International School Activities Conference (KISAC). 

Athletes hope to continue these pre-tourney invites for future seasons to come. The Jets community shows high hopes for the upcoming basketball rematch against DMHS at Camp Walker. “One hundred percent I want to continue with the friendlies. First off, for the volleyball season, as we are still getting into all the sports, it has been nice to have friendly games with DMHS and other schools in general because we only have two chances to show people what we got and that is SKAIS and KISAC. But the fact that we have the DMHS games really gets us excited for the season and for the upcoming tournaments. To move on to the future of this year, basketball has been getting a lot of recognition for this upcoming matchup due to our performance from last year. It gets the team more riled up and excited to beat them in general because we definitely think we have a really good chance,” said YiManuel Cortez, a tenth-grade three-sport athlete.

Gallery • 9 Photos

Selina Son

Mr. Bergan gives the varsity squad the game plan for the second set. They tune into Coach Bergan's feedback and put it into practice during the game.