Bahrain's Zeyad Rmadan, left, and Enoch Oduro wait for Lakenheath's Rylen Pontemayor to hit the ball over the net on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
VICENZA, Italy – Five players who took part in last year’s DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships are playing at small colleges in the States this fall. Yet even without those players, just about everybody involved in this year’s event thinks most of the teams have gotten better.
Not a bad sign when the field continues to grow, with the addition of two Division I schools bringing the total entered to a record 14.
“I’ve seen a lot of progress,” Vilseck coach Ellen Fox said. “It’s gotten to be so good and so much fun.”
As both an alternative to those not interested in playing football and a potential avenue for college scholarships, “this is the kind of opportunity we want the kids to have,” she said. “This opens the door and there could be opportunities for more to play at the next level.”
Nobody was talking of future Olympians for any of those taking to the court, regardless of the several countries they could represent. But each of the favorites seem to have at least one player capable of trying on a new uniform next fall if they’re so inclined.
Of course, the championships still have two days left and most of the school year to finish. And that’s where the players’ have their minds right now.
“Keep swinging, keep up the blocking and play our game,” Naples senior Chase Braden said of his team’s mindset. The top-seeded Wildcats won all three of their matches Thursday as did No. 2 seed Aviano in another pool. Two-time defending champion Black Forest Academy won both of its matches in the third pool.
Braden said his skills have grown dramatically in the last three years: “As a sophomore, I was on the bench. I didn’t know how to even hit the ball properly. Now I’m team captain.”
Sigonella's Bodhi McElree tries to go up to block a hit by Hohenfels' Jacob Berkau on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Tournament on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Hohenfels' Tkoa Kaisa tries to get the ball past Sigonella's Mikolaj Czernielewski on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Hohenfels' Jaylen Greene sets the ball up for his team on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Sigonella's Harrison Cooper awaits the set of Mikolaj Czernielewski on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Aviano's Christiano Peterson, left, and Alando Brown go up to block on the first day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. Brown sent the ball back for a point. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Lakenheath libero Diego Vargas successfully keeps the ball in play as teammate Rylen Pontemayor watches on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Tournament in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Lakenheath's Jaylon Gatewood goes up high to try to hit the ball over the net against Aviano on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Aviano's Andrew Walker bumps the ball on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Jayden-Shelton Murphy hits the ball towards a Vicenza wall anchored by Jace Herron on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Vicenza libero Raul Carrillo-Rivera bumps the ball in between teammates on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Vicenza setter Karl Kukk sends an apparently scary Halloween ball to a teammate on the first day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships in Vicenza, Italy on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein's Nicholas Tunjano bumps the ball on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Bahrain's Noah Gabriele, left, waits for Diego Mercado-Rodriguez to set the ball on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Vilseck libero Diego Barrios-Garcia sends the ball toward the net on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Vilseck's Rohail Jan jumps to meet the ball on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
The Wildcats and Saints each need to win their final pool matches to advance automatically to Saturday’s semifinals. But if they falter, it’s possible they’ll be relegated to quarterfinal matches against either BFA or fourth-seeded Ramstein. The Falcons blitzed the Royals in a pool matchup and look to be rounding into top form with the return of last year’s tournament MVP Timothy Sivonen, who missed almost the entire regular season with an injury.
Ramstein, making its first tournament appearance, didn’t seem that downbeat about the loss, though, especially as it still looks in good shape to keep playing Saturday after bouncing back to defeat Vicenza.
“We’re just excited to be here and get a chance to play against all these other teams,” Royals coach Eric Kotzar said. His team was designated as an intramural squad a year ago – a route that fellow D-I sports power Stuttgart took this year.
Hitter Nicholas Tunjano wasn’t even a part of that team but turned some heads Thursday at the Del Din gym with his play.
“He has a lot of talent,” Kotzar said. “He was a find.”
Naples' Steven Irvine Jr. waits to bump the ball on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Naples' Teyfen Jones uncorks a jump serve on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Marymount's Graydon Grignon bumps the ball on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Marymount's Federico Pipitone directs the ball toward the net on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
American Overseas School of Rome's Riley Smith tries to hit past the block of Rota's Jonathan Valenzuela on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Rota's Jadon Afisivalu sends the ball quickly over the net to try to beat the Ameircan Overseas School of Rome block on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
American Overseas School of Rome's Meng Peng Jiang bumps the ball on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
American Overseas School of Rome's Shai Gerard sets up a teammate on the opening day of the DODEA-Europe Boys Volleyball Championships on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Vicenza, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Three teams entered the event without having won a match during the season. Rota, which finished second last year before losing virtually its entire team to graduation, got its first victory by keeping Marymount winless. But the Royals from Italy have improved from a season ago when they struggled to put six players on the court and couldn’t do that by the end of the tournament. And Hohenfels remained winless, though the Tigers pushed both Sigonella and Bahrain to three sets.
Pool play finishes Friday morning at three gyms in Vicenza before two afternoon quarterfinals and Saturday semifinals and the third-place championship games at the high school in the Villagio housing area.
