For the first time in over 13 years, a freshman athlete has made the Bonita Vista High (BVH) Boys Varsity Volleyball team. After the February volleyball tryouts, Boys Varsity Volleyball Head Coach Luis Contreras decided that freshman and middle blocker Colin Larson was a good fit for the team.

“[When I found out] I was on my way to Vegas with my sister because she had a tournament and I was just extremely excited because I didn’t think that would happen,” Larson said. “I just felt stoked, because it’s an honor to be on such a team that no freshman has been on in such a long time.”

Senior middle blocker and team captain Titus Bourus, plays the same position as C. Larson and says he knew from the beginning that C. Larson would have a good chance of making varsity.

“I think he has a good presence on the net and he’s hard to get past when people are spiking over him. He’s a really good blocker. He just needs to work on his footwork and his approach for spiking. Once he gets that down then he can be unstoppable,” Bourus said.

Larson began playing volleyball in eighth grade for the Bonita Vista Middle (BVM) volleyball team. He began playing volleyball because his older sister, Keely Larson, had made the varsity volleyball team as a freshman as well and he hoped to follow in her footsteps. 

“I got to meet Colin when he was an eighth grader at BVM. I knew him because of [K. Larson], who made varsity her freshman year so I had an idea of where he kind of came from, but my first impression of him was [that] he was pretty athletic. He’s a go-getter, [and] he’s a dog so it is really exciting to see what he can do and what he has potential doing,” Contreras said.

C. Larson played his first year of club volleyball this fall, playing for the Point Break volleyball club. Playing club volleyball not only gives him an opportunity to learn but also to practice away from the school gyms. For those reasons, he plans to play club when the school season ends and continue to play on the BVH Boys Varsity Volleyball team for his four years of high school.

“I plan on staying on this team throughout high school. It’s a great experience and so far I really like it. My goals are as a team make it to CIF and hopefully win and as a player just to get better and help out the team as much as I can,” C. Larson said.

Larson gets along well with the other players on the team, despite being the only freshman among older grade levels.

“[C. Larson] brings a lot of spirit to the team and really cheers for us all the time. He’s always trying to help us get better and improve,” Bourus said. “Not only is he a good volleyball player, but he’s also a good person too.”

While many of his teammates will be graduating from high school this year, C. Larson will remain and hopes to take a leadership position on the team.

“As a freshman on varsity he has a really big role to fulfill, especially in these upcoming years,” Contreras said. “My goal is to get him ready for the upcoming years, Make sure he becomes a really good leader and hopefully he can guide his team. He’s a great player as it is right now, but as far as his potential, it’s vast – it’s huge.”