By Mitch Stephens, contributor

It was four days before a Southern California Volley- ball Association tournament in Anaheim, the last big warm-up heading into next month’s junior nationals and Diablo Valley 17 boys volleyball coach Steve Siegmann was on edge.

He clearly didn’t appreciate his team’s lackadaisical and non-defensive play during a 21⁄2-hour practice at Foothill Middle School in Walnut Creek. He brought a sloppy scrimmage to a screeching halt.

“What’s going on?” he yelled. “Is this how we’re going to come out and play Friday? I sure hope not.”

Fast starts and relentless strikes have been the thrust of Siegmann’s philosophy since taking over this group of 11 high school all-stars in August.

Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy.

It’s the team’s motto, after all. It’s why Siegmann tagged the team Cobra Kai, the fictitious bad-boy dojo bunch from the often mocked, yet undeniably beloved and recently resurrected “Karate Kid” flick series.

Though Siegmann recites many of the lines from the movie tongue-in-cheek, he does, in principle, want his players to buy into an aggressive, never-let-up mindset on the court.

On this day, his boys weren’t spending nearly enough and Siegmann appeared to be channeling original Co- bra Kai instructor John Kreese himself.

“Move low and stay down!” he kept preaching. “How many times do I have to say it?”

Pleading for defense is nothing new for Siegmann, a former Northgate High School and Los Medanos College volleyball standout. The 31-year-old has coached both genders at the high school and club volleyball scene for more than 10 seasons, including stints at Northgate (boys), Clayton Valley (girls), Antioch (girls), Campolindo (boys) and the last two seasons at Acalanes (girls).

He’s coached at Diablo Valley Volleyball Club, which was founded 16 years ago, since 2003.

Getting boys to fully commit on the defensive end is a tall order.

“For the girls, it’s all about defense and ball control,” Siegmann said. “For the boys, it’s all about the power.”

And the current Cobra Kai squad has more firepower than any he has ever coached. The same core group had trouble matching up against taller and more offensive-minded squads in previous seasons at younger age-groups.

But with the addition to start the season of Jason Agopian (Deer Valley) and Mitch- ell D’Angina (Clayton Valley), a pair of 6-foot-6 hitters, joining already potent 6-3 threats Ricky Carrillo (Berean Christian) and Peter Edwards (De La Salle), along with 6-5 middle Brendan Byrne (De La Salle), Cobra Kai strikes quite hard – first, last and in between.

As they suddenly showed at practice. The chiseled Edwards crushed a Dan Cleland set straight to the floor. “Way to at- tack that ball!” Siegmann yelled.

Agopian, with shaggy hair flopping, went way up but miss-timed a high set. Hanging high for seemingly an eternity, the athletic Agopian still managed to put a kill to the floor without a touch.

“That’s it,” Siegmann said. “Get a quality swing every time!”

On the next sequence, Agopian got a good swing, but Byrne sent it back with a big block-winner, drawing “ooohs “and “ahhhs.”

“No better feeling in sport than that,” Byrne said later.

Said Siegmann: “We’ve usually not had the size to compete with the big teams in LA or junior nationals. We’ve got that now. We’ve got that and the ball control and the blocking. That’s why we are where we are.”

Austin bound

That’s why the Cobra Kai qualified as one of the top 36 squads nationally to play in the Junior Nationals Open Division July 6-9 in Austin, Texas.

The team qualified during a good show- ing in February in Wisconsin.

They feature seven players who were recently voted first-team, All-League during the high school spring season, including Agopian, Dan Cleland and Carrillo, all picked as league MVPs.

Though the hitters and setters Cleland and Michael Doherty have hands in most of the points, the team’s MVP could be unsung and physically-unimposing libero Matthew Peretto, a 5-7 incoming junior at St. Patrick-St. Vincent in Vallejo.

“He’s one of the best defensive players I’ve ever seen,” Siegmann said. “Opposing coaches always make a point to single him out to me after matches.”

Beyond the team’s versatility and skills, its camaraderie and cohesion stand out, Siegmann said.

Despite the seven different high schools the players claim loyalty to, when the players get together it’s similar to a family reunion. “Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever had a team get along so well,” Siegmann said. “There have been absolutely no conflicts, no drama. Not about personalities. Not about playing time. They just get along, support and cheer for one another.”

The bond may be tighter because boys volleyball is such a tight fraternity.

Gender equity is clearly reversed in this sport as there are 311 women’s Division I college programs compared to just 22 for men. At the Division II level, the numbers are also staggeringly one-sided: women 269, men 15.

“It makes it tough because I’d really want to play volleyball in college,” Agopian said. “There aren’t many scholarships for boys to go around.”

Though he’s getting Division I looks, Agopian probably had a better chance scoring a football scholarship. He starred as a youth and through his freshman sea- son at Deer Valley. But in the ninth grade he was introduced to volleyball and left the gridiron high and dry.

“It was either hit your head (in football) or hit the ball (in volleyball),” Agopian said. “I much preferred hitting the ball.”

Byrne was also a late-bloomer, spending much of his youth playing basketball. His mom Linda, who played collegiate volleyball at Santa Clara, finally swayed her son when he reached the eighth grade.

He played his first full season as a fresh- man at De La Salle. A fast learner, he’s getting Division I interest.

“There are so many things to learn about the game,” Byrne said. “I’m just now feeling fully comfortable on the court.”

With his dad a former player and coach, Edwards grew up around the game and is extremely skilled beyond being physically gifted. With two more high school seasons ahead, he likely will be Cobra Kai’s most recruited player.

“The high school season is good, but we’re much closer on this team,” Edwards said. “This team is definitely like a family. We all share a love for the game and really want to be playing.”

Indeed, the club scene is much more volleyball sophisticated than at school, where Cobra Kai team members often get inundated with the same absurd inquiries from students.

“They’ll ask, ‘do you guys wear spandex like the girls?’ “ Edwards said while rolling his eyes.

Said Byrne: “Or they’ll ask, ‘so what’s your vertical (jump)?’ like jumping high is the only thing you need to do to be good at volleyball. Get real.”

Said Agopian: “I get guys asking me if they go out for the volleyball team is it easier to go out with volleyball chicks? I’m like, ‘are you kidding?’”

Sideouts

Siegmann wasn’t kidding when he said this is one of the most enjoyable teams that he’s ever coached. Putting down his John Kreese guard for a moment, here are comments he made about each of his Cobra Kai players:

Agopian: “He’s got the most personality on the team. He keeps things fun and loose. On the court, there’s no one who has improved more since August. He played only the middle for his high school team, but for us he’s picked up every skill imaginable.”

Byrne: “He’s another kid with a great personality and someone who has improved a ton since last year. We’d stick him just in the front row, but he’s worked really hard to be a more complete player.”

Carrillo: “There’s no one who did more for his high school team. He took a lot of swings for us as 16s. He and Peter Edwards really carried us offensively then. With extra firepower he can relax and show off all his other skills.”

Dan Cleland: “He’s got great footwork and has a lot of power behind his push. Solid hands. When he gives his brain a break and doesn’t think too much he’s fantastic. Personality wise, he’s a real quiet kid who leads by example. ”

Mark Cleland: “He’s definitely got more personality than his twin. He’s your traditional utility man. He came play some libero, so outside, some defensive specialist. You can put him anywhere and he doesn’t care where as long as he’s contributing. That makes him very important.”

D’Angina: “When he showed up in Au- gust he had the least experience. He’s really worked at picking things up and spent the season improving himself immensely. He’s got a lot more confident and a lot more consistent. He’s still a fine work in progress.”

Doherty: “He could have played 16s, but chose to move up and it’s been to our ad- vantage. He’s split time between setter and defensive specialist. He’s a great server with a lot of ability. I’m tough on setters but he’s hung tough.”

Edwards: “He’s a big-time and very physical player. He really hits it hard. He and Ricky carried us offensively as 16s. With the extra firepower he can focus more on serve receive. He’s a very, very smart player.”

Taylor Higgs: “Consistency is his strong suit. He’s not overpowering but his serving is superb. His floater is nice and flat.”

Peretto: “He’s one of the best defensive players I’ve seen. He just sees the court so well. He anticipates. He’s our main serve- receive player. Every match we play, the opposing coach always has something positive to say about Matthew. He’s truly outstanding.”

Nikhil Rajapuram: “Nikhil displays great leadership. He’s very vocal. He make sure we stay intense. He may have the best work ethic on the squad. They all have good ones but Nikhil gives 100 percent all the time. On the good, he’s equally strong offensively and defensively. He’s improved vastly on defense and passing.”

Contact Mitch at mstephens@SportStarsMag.com