Noki Lam
Sports Editor
Freshmen Enzo Barker, Colby Graham, and Olga Nikolaeva competed in the 2023 International School Sport Federation (ISF) beach volleyball championships in Bat Yam, Israel, from May 15 to May 23. The event occurs every two years, and is hosted by the ISF, an international umbrella organization that hosts championships with teams from different smaller organizations from around the world, including the U.S.’ Amateur Athletic Association (AAU).
Beach partners Barker and Graham qualified by maintaining a winning record in school AAU tournaments for Costa. Nikolaeva and her partner, Sydney Toumajian, a current 8th grader at MBMS, were able to make it into the tournament by being among the top ranked players in the 15u AAU circuit outside of school.
Nikolaeva (1, far left) and Barker and Graham (1 and 2, middle), pose with the rest of the team USA members.
“We had to keep a nearly perfect record throughout the school season to be able to qualify for Israel,” Graham said. “Because of this, it was awesome to be able to make it to the tournament.”
Barker (right) and Graham wait for the ball in serve receive.
In pool play, the boys faced one of the two Israel teams competing in the tournament, and Ukraine, a favorite to win going into the tournament. The pair defeated Israel, but fell short to Ukraine, going into playoffs with a record of 1-1.
Graham attacks the ball with no blocker.
“Overall the competition internationally was better there than here in California,” Graham said. “Ukraine was especially good and gave us a tough match.”
Graham and Barker then faced Estonia, another top team in the quarterfinals, falling short in a close match which led them to play in a consolation matchup against the other Israel team. After they bounced back with a win against Israel, they played Latvia and won, solidifying their fifth place finish.
Graham meets a defender at the net.
“We were partly disappointed with our result because we felt we could have done better,” Barker said. “It was unlucky that we had to play two good teams, Ukraine and Estonia, in the early rounds. However, we still were proud to represent the United States.”
Nikolaeva and Toumajian came into Israel as one of the best teams in the girls’ division. They beat both Hungary, and one of two Latvia teams and one of two Israel teams in pool play, before defeating the other Israel team in the quarterfinals. They went on to beat Ukraine in the semifinals, and Brazil in the finals, winning the tournament with an overall record of 6-0.
“Going into the tournament, I had a pretty strong feeling that we were gonna win,” Nikolaeva said. “The competition surprised us and was better than we had expected, but we were still able to pull off the win.”
According to Nikolaeva, being able to represent the United States was a memorable experience. Playing on an international level allowed her to see different cultures, hear new languages, and play against the best in the world.
“Playing internationally at such a high stage was a lot of fun,” Nikolaeva said. “Being around so many different cultures and meeting new people was an amazing experience.”
Leave a Reply