Every year during the beach volleyball season, a pairs tournament commences. Last year, varsity players Nikko Scongo and Brody Gallagher took home the gold. This year, Adam Noy and Alex Newman played their hardest and placed second.
“The day of the tournament was fairly smooth until bracket play began,” Newman said. “The first round of brackets was also smooth but in the quarter-finals against Camarillo we played against the guy on the youth national team.”
At tournaments, the play gets harder and more competitive as the playoffs go on.
“The quarterfinal game was a game of adjustments to who could adjust to the other team better,” Newman said. “Adam and I had a solid game plan and we stuck to it and it worked out for us as we won 21-19.”
The boys’ hard work was apparent to their other teammates and the general audience.
“Adam and Alex played great, they looked like they wanted to win,” senior Ryan Rosenthal said. “At the quarter-finals, Adam and Alex faced harder competition and it was a point-for-point game. All the games in the playoffs were like this. Alex and Adam did really well and came out on top.”
Something positive about this pairing is that they are friends on and off the court, this helps them work better together.
“Adam and Alex worked really hard on their partnership together in practice leading up to the game,” Rosenthal said. “They are also really good friends outside of volleyball which helps with their pair chemistry.”
This placing pair was chosen because they are some of the top players in the program. Every school is only allowed to send three pairs of players, and Oak Park High School is glad they chose Adam and Alex.
“Alex and I had terrific chemistry that day,” Noy said. “We won all of our games except the last one. We just played our friends Matthew and Sean in the finals and they beat us 21-16. After they beat us, we all got in and out.”
The volleyball community in Ventura County is tight-knit as the top players often play in Club leagues together.
“When the brackets came out we realized that we were on opposite sides,” Noy said. “We laughed about how if we both won all our playoff games we would play each in the final. Three hours later, the championship was set. Alex Newman and Adam Noy versus Matthew Currey and Sean Marquart.”
The team has gone through change this year because of their new coach.
“Coach Harger being introduced to the program has been a huge change,” Noy said. “He introduced a new set of drills with new emphases. The coaching style is different but he’s still setting us up for success.”
Though Alex and Adam are currently partners, all good things must come to an end.
“Alex and I are going to continue to play our very hardest with one another with the time we have left together,” Noy said. “We have to have a bitter breakup when Brody Gallagher’s ankle gets better. Hopefully, we do not break up on bad terms. I hope Brody buys him flowers, holds his hand and does everything I would’ve done if I was his man.”
Practice and games continue in the course of the season, and the boys are feeling positive.
“We are four weeks in currently and we have about 3 weeks left so we are in the middle of the season,” Noy said. “Our record right now is 7-2. We expect to keep winning and do great in the championship.”
