In Hawaiian culture, the kukui nut necklace symbolizes learning and education and is often gifted as a lei during graduation ceremonies. When the four seniors of the CHS boys volleyball program, along with one junior who is graduating early next year, walked out for their senior night ceremony following their last conference game of the season, their Hawaiian head coach George Cavaco placed a kukui nut necklace over each of their shoulders.
“Reflecting on my last couple of weeks of volleyball has helped me to see how much I’ve grown since the start of my journey; not only as a player, but as a person,” said senior setter and captain Matthew Slentz. “All of these traits that I’ve been able to build through great coaching and good relationships with teammates – it’s really shown me how much the sport has given me.”
Cavaco then gifted the seniors of their visiting opponent, San Diego High School, with candy leis.
“My hope for these seniors is that I taught them enough life lessons to make them successful young men in their next chapter – whatever it may be,” said Cavaco.
Slentz, who has been playing for CHS since his freshman year, will be attending his dream college, Notre Dame, in the fall. His teammates, Gabriel Langevin, Jocain Howard and Nicholas Redding – who is committed to play collegiate volleyball for the University of Lynchburg – will be graduating alongside him.
Islanders secure 22-10 overall record
They leave behind one of CHS’ most successful boys volleyball seasons in recent years, according to Cavaco.
The Islanders currently stand at a 22-10 overall record – a major improvement from last season where the Islanders finished off with a 14-18 record.
“The mentality has definitely shifted this season,” said Slentz. “We came in really confident in the players we had and we knew that we could do a lot with the position that we were in. We are just hoping that we can close it out with a CIF title at the end of the year.”
The Islanders were in a unique position coming into the season with a largely young, inexperienced team. Only four varsity returners line the roster, and five out of the 14 players are underclassmen.
What may have been perceived as an early challenge for the varsity squad, ended up fostering a dynamic team environment.
“We have a really deep team,” said junior setter and captain Quinten Sylvester. “Everyone contributes. We’ve basically been using all of our players from our bench.”
Within the Division 3 league, the boys have solidified a 9-1 record. Their recent loss on April 18 against Patrick Henry in the fifth set came after a 3-1 win against them less than a month before.
“There might have been a sense of security going into that game that we’d be fine since we’d beaten them before,” said Slentz. “We let off the gas a little bit. We have to keep that scrappy mentality, especially going into playoffs. If we’ve beaten a team before, we have to go just as hard and keep the pressure on.”
CHS boys look forward to CIF playoffs
Following their 3-0 sweep against San Diego High School on April 25, the Islanders found out that they will be advancing to CIF playoffs – something that hasn’t been achieved since 2017 when the team brought home a league title.
This year, the boys have set out with the goal of bringing home both the league and CIF Division 3 championship title.
“We’ve seen a lot of the teams at the top of our division and we know we can beat them,’ said Slentz. “With it being my senior year, it makes me want to get my year on that banner even more with a CIF championship so that I can leave a legacy behind. It’s been such a long time for us, we’d love to leave that impact here.”
As conference play comes to a close, Cavaco looks back on a season of growth and improvement – something that has left him feeling fulfilled heading into the uncertainty of playoffs.
“All coaches hope they win [playoffs]. But for me, if we do not, that doesn’t mean that the journey we had this season wasn’t successful,” said Cavaco. “The growth in the character and the growth in the program from last year to this year is the most important thing to me. Winning league and CIF are just the two cherries on top.”
