Normans Trio Shines at All-Star Volleyball Match

Three Beverly Hills High School players and head coach Jonathan Ramin participated in the first Westside Boys Volleyball All-Star Exhibition on Wednesday night at Santa Monica High School.

Organized on a whim by Santa Monica High head coach Liane Sato, the event gave 16 of the best players representing five area programs a chance to showcase their skills.

"It was really a last-minute thing, I just asked the coaches to pick players they thought would like to do it and they were very receptive," Sato said. "If they want to continue it next year that would be great." 

Blue and gold teams were formed and each eight-man roster was a mixture of players from different schools, giving teammates a unique opportunity to play against each other.

Normans setter Daniel Tabariai and libero Jason Nik were on the blue team, piloted by Windward Coach Michelle McGuire. Middle blocker Joshua Johnson played on the gold team, coached by Ramin.

The blue team won the first two games, 25-22, 25-23, but the gold team stormed back to sweep the last three, 25-16, 26-24, 15-9.

"I made a switch after the second game," said Ramin, whose team lost to San Gabriel in the first round of the Southern Section Division 4 playoffs. "I flipped our middles around and changed the serving rotations."

Though no official stats were kept, Johnson sparked the gold team's comeback and Tabariai ran the blue team's offense with expertise.

Rounding out the gold team's roster were setter Chase Pion and outside hitter Ryan Manoogian of Windward, setter Alex Aguilera of Culver City, outside hitter Charles Levy, middle blocker Trevor Pye and defensive specialist Eric Barber of Santa Monica and libero Jake Hurwitz of Crossroads. 

"It was cool to meet everyone and to start something that hopefully will continue after we're gone," said Levy, a senior bound for UC Santa Barbara. "It was nice to get the win too. We got on a roll once we stopped making mistakes."

Rounding out the blue team were outside hitter Andy Aguila and middle blocker Kekoa Mathews of Culver City, opposite hitter Drew Pion of Windward, and middle blocker Julian Hess, opposite hitter Jack Cramer and outside hitter Taylor Moldo of Crossroads.

"The first two games were like a wake-up call," Aguilera said. "As the match went on we started playing more as a team than as individuals."

Ramin, a BHHS alumnus who played four years of varsity volleyball and was the Normans' starting setter for three seasons, expects his team to be better in 2011-12 despite losing first team All-Ocean League seniors Johnson and Nik.

"They were the captains, so we're going to miss them," Ramin said. "I have high expectations. Daniel [Tabariai] made the second team this year and he'll be the leader next year."

Coaching an All-Star team was a thrill for Ramin, who hopes Wednesday's exhibition is merely the first chapter in a long-running event.

"This is such a balanced team," he said. "On my [BHHS] team there was a huge difference from the best player to the worst player."  

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