After winning just one game last year, the Live Oak High boys volleyball team has already doubled its win total this season. The Acorns are in the midst of rebuilding a program that doesn’t have the numbers to field a junior varsity team. Live Oak entered the week with a 2-4 record in the Blossom Valley League’s Santa Teresa Division, with a goal to become a consistent, competitive team.
So far, so good. The Acorns have two solid setters in sophomore Andrew Bergholz and junior Guiliano Sarlo, allowing Coleman to implement a different offense.
“This year we have two setters and we’re running a 6-2 (offense), so they’re learning because they’ve never done this rotation before,” Coleman said. “Their sets are fine and we’re running quick sets, which we were not able to do last year.”
Coleman said the team’s strengths lies in its defense and serve-receive; however, Live Oak doesn’t have a ton of firepower.
“We’re trying to build up our confidence to hit hard without committing errors,” Coleman said.
The team’s two main outside hitters—junior Nick Sykes and senior Aaron Villarreal—both play excellent defense. Sykes has been the team’s most consistent hitter, while Cameron Chu—a senior libero who is in his first year of playing volleyball—has caught on quick.
“Cameron is running around all over the place,” Coleman said. “He’s aggressive and a talker, so it keeps the momentum going. Definitely one of my core players.”
Anthony Downer, a senior middle blocker who didn’t play last year, has also improved in every facet of the game. As the team captain, Villarreal plays a valuable role.
“Aaron is the backbone of the team,” Coleman said. “He has the nickname of Aztec Warrior, because he will fly all over the place. It doesn’t matter where the ball goes—he’ll get it.”
Villarreal tries to make sure the players are communicating constantly and picking each other up. Villarreal likes the team’s makeup, and hopes the camaraderie the players are developing will manifest to solid play on the court.
“What I see is the team is very passionate about wanting to play and wanting to learn,” he said. “We want to do better, and we’re finding that right balance of putting in the effort and having fun in the games. I feel with the passion and drive we have, we’re going to do well.”
Villarreal was cut from the team as a freshman, which motivated him to come back as a sophomore and play better than ever. However, it was Villarreal’s inability to play football that has given him a great appreciation for life. Having grown up around uncles who were football fanatics, Villarreal was excited for football tryouts as a freshman.
However, Villarreal said he ended up getting irregular heartbeats after some of the workouts, making for a rather dangerous situation. It happened again his sophomore year, and by Villarreal’s junior year he figured the time for him to play football had passed him by.
“I was devastated not being able to play football,” he said.
Villarreal has taken that pain and used it as a positive, as he puts tremendous effort into volleyball. Villarreal loves the fact the team is a work in progress, knowing all of the steps are worthwhile.
“The highlight is we push each other so much and have been able to find our skills and consistently use them on the court,” he said.
Villarreal takes pride in being able to play every position; however, he admits being able to finish a point is the best reward.
“If you’re the last one to touch the ball and you get that point, it’s the greatest feeling,” he said.
Villarreal has been accepted to Cal Lutheran University, and should he go there, he plans on taking a combination of psychology and criminal justice classes in his quest to one day become a crime scene detective for the FBI or NCIS. The goal came about, of course, after Villarreal started watching the TV show NCIS, which is his mom’s favorite show.
Villarreal has been fascinated with psychology after noticing the huge difference a person goes through mentally with oneself and with relationships with others from middle school to high school.
“I wanted to understand how the mind works,” he said. “It’s a great asset to the job if you’re able to understand what each person is feeling and then dealing with them with that knowledge in hand.”
In addition to the aforementioned players, the roster includes Austin Lee, Ryan Wensmann, Jack Scotney-Castle, Samuele Ronchi, Tyler Wilte, Mitchell Reynolds, Kobe Nguyen, Andrew Gonzalez, Christopher Mendez, Landon Reynolds and Antonio DiFrancesco.
