When the Mission Bay High School (MBHS) boys’ volleyball team takes down its net for the last time this season, there won’t be much in the gym to remember the Bucs by. The lone representation of the program is a 1994 CIF runner-up banner, courtesy of former coach Dave Whittaker, who took the team to back-to-back second-place finishes in the ’90s. The current crop of coaches want to join the ranks — or in this case the rafters. “I am excited about having such a young team with room to grow over the next few years,” said MBHS volleyball director Crystal Frasca. Frasca isn’t alone in her optimism. Assistants like coach Dave Beza, who handles most coaching duties, believes that basics come first and championships come later. “Everything we’ve done to recruit this year has been trying to keep the team young, whether it’s freshmen, sophomores or just trying to introduce some guys to the game,” Beza said. “Three or four guys knew the game when we first started,” he said. “Now, everyone is pretty confident. We have a roster of 12, and I think everyone is contributing a lot.” Senior Andres Armenta embodies Beza’s “teach a man to fish” approach. Armenta, who never played volleyball before high school, can now play for a lifetime. First stop is Mesa College. He plans to try out for the team, transfer to the University of California, San Diego and play for the Tritons one day. Freshman Garrett Gutstadt symbolizes the other end of the spectrum. He’s come a long way in his first year playing. “It’s been fun,” Gutstadt said. “I got to get a lot better at pretty much everything. I didn’t really know the basics before I got into it here.” After graduating two-thirds of the squad last year, Beza and the other coaches have worked hard to get the new team up to speed. “I think we’ve improved a lot in terms of technically learning the game,” Beza said. “Our record isn’t great, but for a young team to be able to play the way that they are doing right now — in the first season — I think we’re doing really good.” Beza takes pride in watching the boys emerge in terms of confidence, leadership and overall character. “They really pleasantly surprise me with the maturity level that they play at, regardless of their lack of experience,” Beza said. “Other than that, they are really just kind-hearted. They have big hearts and they really just try to take care of each other.”