OCC men’s volleyball team chemistry held responsible for undefeated title

Orange Coast College men’s volleyball team remains undefeated throughout their latest matches in the 2024 season. Doing what many sports teams aspire to do, they continue to win while defending their 2023 championship title. The question remains, what’s their secret?

There isn’t one. This team has a chemistry that makes playing their sport fun and exciting, winning is just the cherry on top. This team works hard and has extreme dedication to their sport and each other. With this team, there are no off days. Every day is an opportunity to advance their skills and train. 

Redshirts, those who aren’t currently on the roster but are alternates for the next season, are extremely dedicated to obtaining a permanent position on the OCC men’s volleyball roster. With team captain, Landon Seymour, the team has seen consecutive wins and not a single loss, Seymour explains in an interview that the wins cannot be attributed solely to one player, but to the entire team as a whole. Every player does their part on the team, but being friends is what truly gets them through these games. Is undeniable team chemistry all that there is for a team to win? 

Landon Seymour is a setter for the OCC volleyball team and the team captain. He is UCLA's volleyball legacy, following in his father's footsteps, playing the setter position at his college. The close father-son bond is what drew Seymour to the sport. Being a team captain is more than just encouraging your teammates, it’s holding them accountable for schoolwork and dedication to the team. Seymour says that being a team captain may be “stressful” at times, Coaches hold their team captains to higher expectations, and being a student-athlete is not easy, balancing school and sports can be challenging. 

Seymour mentioned the PRESS program as a huge help to his school workload. Assistant coach, Vinny Rodriguez, runs PRESS, a sports study hall program that encourages student-athletes to be focused on school when they have off time from the court. From building their skills in volleyball together to studying, this team stays highly motivated and focused on becoming better student-athletes. 

“I think [the team dynamic] is really good,” Seymour said. “I think other people can attest for, we do a lot outside, as a team, so it helps to build our chemistry on the court.” 

Being undefeated can bring a target on your back, and winning state can be an overall shared goal for the team, there has to be some nerves that come before each game. 

“You just kinda gotta focus on being good, as a team, and not focusing on how good they’re gonna be,” Seymour said. “Just kinda doing your own thing and doing what we need to do to get better, as opposed to worrying about what other teams are doing to beat us.” 

Cole Hauser is another member of the OCC men’s volleyball team, he is one of the team's OH, also known as outside hitter. His close childhood friend brought him to the sport, he was introduced to volleyball young and kept with the sport throughout high school. He has goals of playing volleyball after OCC and mentions that their current “short-term” goal is obtaining that state championship title once more. This outside hitter remains positive in reaching this goal, as the team dynamic continues to remain strong. 

“This team [is] one solid group of friends that also play volleyball together… Our friend group is all volleyball players,” Hauser said. “The pressure of being undefeated goes onto the team members, they each recognize that towards the end of the season, there’s more tension on playing their best, and “defending those wins.” 

During the games, Hauser admits that he may get distracted as an individual but focus is easy when he gets into the court. The team is centered around the shared drive to win and become the best players they can be.

“Not really a secret, but just our entire team, from the red shirts to the roster guys, all come in every day and we’re like all working our hardest,” Hauser said.

Oskar Hingle is a Laguna Beach native, he grew up around the beach and beach volleyball. His exposure to beach volleyball drove him to become a volleyball player as well, he is an outside hitter for the team. From high school volleyball to OCC volleyball, Hingle explains his decision to come to play as an OCC pirate. 

“You hear a lot of stories about the OCC men’s volleyball team,” Hingle said. “Just because it’s so local and I had a lot of players from my (high school) team come here.” 

Team sports are extremely valuable and are good at teaching life skills, discipline, dedication, and teamwork skills are all important qualities to obtain. 

“All of the comradery between the team … the things you sacrifice, and the things everyone does to make [winning] happen, is just really special,” Hingle said. 

He also mentions the PRESS program as another helpful resource for him as a student-athlete. Sharing the same goal as your teammates is important in having a positive attitude and understanding why winning is important.