Black Forest Academy junior Timothy Sivonen was named most valuable player in the DODEA-Europe boys volleyball championships after leading the Falcons to a three-set victory over Rota on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Only a few years ago, the DODEA-Europe boys volleyball champion was always located south of the Alps. The system’s Italian schools have fielded teams for decades and contested the title with a few international schools they played against during a regular season.
But when the championships begin Thursday in Vicenza, a record 14 teams will compete. And for the first time, more than half the schools entered hail from outside of Italy.
That number includes not only two-time defending champion Black Forest Academy from Kandern, Germany, but DODEA-Europe’s largest school: Ramstein. The Royals fielded a boys team for the first time this season, joining fellow Division I schools Vilseck and Lakenheath who stood up teams in recent years. Stuttgart, another D-I athletic powerhouse in Germany, might join the field next year.
By then, the event might have changed.
Kathy Clemmons, DODEA-Europe athletic director, said it’s possible that next year’s version could be split into small-school and large-school versions.
“We will definitely be having conversations about it,” she said Tuesday. “Fourteen teams is certainly a lot.”
While the boys play in Italy, 23 girls teams – squaring off in the Kaiserslautern Military Community in Germany – will be spread out over three traditional divisions based on enrollment.
So this boys year’s event, held at three bases across Vicenza, could be the last time that a single champion is crowned.
On paper, the favorites are the two strongest teams in Italy: Naples and Aviano. Each is 11-1 with the only loss at each other’s hands on Sept. 20-21. A week earlier, the Wildcats had opened the season with a victory over BFA. The Falcons then finished their season last weekend by losing to Ramstein. Both are 7-2, with the Royals’ other loss coming to Vilseck.
Naples, the top seed, and four other schools will play in one pool. Aviano, the second seed, and four others will play in another. BFA and Ramstein, Nos. 3 and 4, are two of the four teams in the third pool. The winners of the first two pools get byes to Saturday morning semifinals, while the top two teams in the last pool face the No. 2 schools in the first two pools in Friday afternoon’s quarterfinals.
Not a single team has faced every other team they’ll play this week. Several have only seen a few of their opponents.
Naples coach Kevin Smith said he’s interested to see new teams in action. But he said he’s told his players they need to focus on themselves and not worry about the competition.
“We want to focus on what we have to do,” he said. “Besides, the only path forward is through the best teams.”
The Wildcats are led by the Jones brothers – senior hitter Jettyn and sophomore setter Teyfen – and libero Steven Irvine Jr. The team’s serving has been dominant in stretches this year and was instrumental in wins over both the Falcons and Saints.
“And they stopped us from going on runs,” Aviano coach Logan Riley said.
The Saints feature veteran standout hitter Xavier Fox and setter Cristiano Peterson, and they got a boost just before the season started with the addition of three players who joined after the school couldn’t field a football team.
“I think we’re still getting stronger as a team,” Riley said. “Hopefully, we’ll continue doing that this week.”
BFA coach Lance Dockrey said much the same.
“I don’t think we’ve played our best volleyball yet,” he said.
Much of that was due to the absence of senior hitter Timothy Sivonen – last year’s tournament MVP – who tore a ligament in a finger playing in a summer league in Finland and only returned to action this last weekend.
The Falcons only joined the event two years ago and have won both times. Ramstein will be looking for similar fortune in the program’s first trip south of the Alps. Five other teams: American Overseas School of Rome (5-4), SHAPE (5-4), Bahrain (3-2), Vicenza (7-6) and Vilseck (5-4) enter the event with winning records. Three teams are seeking their first victories of the season.
