The group finished the championships with a 16-1 record and advanced to their 17-team division’s title game
The Malibu Volleyball Club was on the winners’ podium at the end of the USA Volleyball Boys Junior National Championships in Dallas on June 29.
The team of 16-year-olds finished second in the four-day event’s 16 Club division. The group finished the championships with a 16-1 record and advanced to their 17-team division’s title game.
Malibu head coach Derek Saenz said finishing as runner-up was a big deal for his team.
“It is the biggest stage these boys have ever been on,” he noted. “They were happy. We got to get on the podium and be part of a big ceremony.”
The USA Volleyball Boys Junior National Championships was held at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
The event featured a multitude of teams composed of boys ages 12 to 18 competing in over 20 divisions.
The Malibu team is composed of players that play on the Malibu High School boys volleyball team, also coached by Saenz. Three of the players — Madeus Lupo, Alex Galen, and Timur Podgore — were named to the championships’all-tournament team.
Malibu was defeated by IMUA Universal Volleyball Club, a team from the Inland Empire, in the championship game 25-18, 25-20.
Malibu beat the squad 25-23, 20-25, 15-5 in a crossover match the day before.
Saenz said that was Malibu’s best game of the tournament.
“That match was intense because we know it was a final-match preview,” he said. “It was very close in the first two sets, and then we crushed 15-5 in the third.”
Malibu began the volleyball spectacle with a 25-17, 25-16 victory over Sidewinder, an Arizona club, on June 26. That same day Malibu also beat Rancho Valley, a San Bernardino team; Slainte, a team from San Francisco; and 808AC, a team from Hawaii.
Malibu beat West Edge, a Woodland Hills team, 25-14, 25-18 at the beginning of the second day. Malibu also beat Diablo Black, a Bay Area squad, that day.
On June 28, Malibu downed the Bay Area’s Aloha, Guam’s Guahan Boys, and then IMUA.
Malibu beat Guahan Boys 25-17, 25-18 and 808AC 25-16, 25-23 before losing in the title match on the championships’final day.
Malibu’s second-place finish in the tournament came over a month after the Malibu High boys team advanced to the semifinals of the CIF playoffs.
The success the boys had during the high school season, Saenz explained, was a partial confidence boost since not everyone from the high school team plays on the club squad.
“But it got them used to playing against older, bigger guys, compared to playing 16U,” he noted about the high school campaign.
The Malibu Volleyball Club roster includes Kane Bendler, Luca Calvo, Maxson Chiate, Lucas Galan, Martin Kurial, Sebastian Longo, Lucas Neven, and Nicolai Rainin.
The championships was the last event of the club season for Malibu.
Saenz wants his players take a break from volleyball during the summer but to also spend time getting bigger and stronger in the weight room.
“They have developed so much, he said. “You can tell by their attention to detail, how they work out, and how they are mindful of their nutrition. They want it and it shows up in more than just what they do in the hours we are together.”
The coach noted that how onlookers are sometimes surprised at seeing a Malibu group compete at national events.
“Malibu has tremendous athletic talent, and I’m glad people are starting to notice us,” Saenz stated.