Jesuit High School Sacramento Volleyball teams have had an exceptional and storied past. Even though this year’s season did not end the way Jesuit’s Varsity Volleyball team wanted, the team was able to create great chemistry and continue the legacy of past teams. This year, with their ascension into the Sierra Foothill League (SFL), they have proved themselves as one of the toughest teams in the area. 

Something that stood out to first year Coach Joey Elftmann ’00 was the youth of the team, and how they competed against some of the oldest teams in the league while being so young. 

“But the depth of our talent is mostly in the sophomore and junior class and it’s pretty unique because most varsity teams are heavily weighted towards seniors and juniors,”  Coach Elftmann said. “It’s not the case with us.”

Despite the success the team saw over the course of the season, they didn’t get out of the gates fast. Starting 10-10, the team needed something to bring them out of the slump. Daniel Ryan ’25 believes that the Holy Court game versus Christian Brothers High School was this spark.

“I think our turning point was Holy Court against CB,” Daniel said. “Prior to this we were 2-7 in our last nine games and 10-10 overall. But after an extremely energetic win against CB, we were on a big streak and kept winning big games, which boosted us back up to the top of the SFL.”

After the Holy Court, the team really did turn it on. From that game on, they went on to win 12 out of their last 14 regular season games, the highlight of which being the team’s 3-2 set win over the league winner Oakridge on April 21 – a win that showed the tremendous growth of the team from the beginning of the year.

The one thing that Daniel said that made the team so special for him this year was how much the team loved volleyball and their commitment to winning.

“I think what makes us special is that we have players of all ages who love the sport. Everyone on the team loves volleyball and wants to win,” Daniel said. “Not every team can say that so that is something special.”

Jesuit started the San-Joaquin Section Playoffs strongly, with a win in the first round over Cosumnes Oaks. Unfortunately, their season came to an end in the second round of the playoffs to Pleasant Grove High School on Friday, May 2.