Stuttgart opposite hitter Liam Coan hits the ball between Vilseck defenders Drake Neville, left, and Jonathan Talbot during a round-robin match at the 2025 DODEA European boys volleyball championships on Nov. 7, 2025, at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – Stuttgart’s Santino Bowen doesn’t step on the court much, but according to his teammate Chadwick Berrey, he “makes the magic happen.”
Exhibit A: Against Vilseck at the 2025 DODEA European North boys volleyball championship at Kaiserslautern High School, the sophomore outside hitter slammed a ball passed from Berry to clinch the set.
Chaos ensued. The bench leapt up, players on the court began running in every direction screaming and the crowd erupted.
“Celebrating brings us joy, brings the bench joy, brings the audience joy,” Berrey said. “The more we can do it and the louder when we can do it, the happier everyone is. That’s when we play best.”
Stuttgart outside hitter Will Cheviron jumps to serve the ball during a round-robin match against Ramstein at the 2025 DODEA European boys volleyball championships on Nov. 7, 2025, at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Stuttgart's Will Cheviron, Theron Allan, Santino Bowen, Chadwik Berry, Tymir Johnson and Dane Westberry celebrate the final point of a round-robin match against Vilseck during the 2025 DODEA European boys volleyball championships on Nov. 7, 2025, at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Stuttgart's Liam Coan, center left, and Tymir Johnson try to block an attack by Ramstein's Cooper Warren during a round-robin match at the 2025 DODEA European boys volleyball championships on Nov. 7, 2025, at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Vilseck middle hitter Drake Neville hits the ball at the net while Lakenheath outside hitter Jaylon Gatewood defends during a round-robin match at the 2025 DODEA European boys volleyball championships on Nov. 7, 2025, at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Vilseck outside hitter William Mendez bumps the ball during a round-robin match against Lakenheath at the 2025 DODEA European boys volleyball championships on Nov. 7, 2025, at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Vilseck sophomore Liam Colgan sets the ball during a round-robin match against Lakenheath at the 2025 DODEA European boys volleyball championships on Nov. 7, 2025, at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Lakenheath outside hitter Kimben Mallorca hits the ball at the net during a round-robin match against Vilseck at the 2025 DODEA European boys volleyball championships on Nov. 7, 2025, at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
The Panthers had plenty to celebrate during the first day of the championships.
Third-seeded Stuttgart upset top-seeded Ramstein 25-12, 25-20, 27-25 and second-seeded Vilseck 25-21, 25-16, 26-24 in back-to-back contests with no rest between them. Those wins, combined with a 22-25, 25-20, 25-23 victory over Lakenheath, punched the Panthers’ ticket into Saturday’s championship at Ramstein High School.
“I was eating my sandwich, and I realized we’re coming home with a plaque,” Berrey said. “To make it to Euros and now the final, it’s surreal.”
Not bad for a team that is in its first year as a varsity program.
Stuttgart displayed depth rarely seen for a rookie squad. Against the Royals and Falcons, eight Panthers – Will Cheviron, Tymir Johnson, Liam Coan, Dane Westberry, Braxton Nevin, Theron Allan, Ru Taylor and Bowen recorded kills.
A freshman, Cheviron paced Stuttgart with 18 kills over the matches against the top seeds – 10 against Ramstein and eight vs. Vilseck. The freshman smacked four kills during a 12-2 run in the first set against the Royals, including on three out of four plays.
Johnson totaled eight in the same two matches, and Coan added seven.
“I definitely felt we had the potential,” Cheviron said. “Just the chemistry from the start, it really clicked.”
Against the Royals, the Panthers never trailed after a 3-2 deficit in the first set. While not as dominant against the Falcons, Stuttgart rarely trailed and used a six-point and two seven-point runs to pull away.
“As soon as we won that first set against Ramstein, we knew it was go time,” Berrey said. “From then, it was foot on the gas, don’t take it off.”
Lakenheath middle blocker Matthew Vasquez blocks an attack from Vilseck middle hitter Levi Schleicher during a round-robin match at the 2025 DODEA European boys volleyball championships on Nov. 7, 2025, at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein senior Ivery Coleman sets the ball as teammate Jayden-Shelton Murphy prepares to jump during a round-robin match against Lakenheath at the 2025 DODEA European boys volleyball championships on Nov. 7, 2025, at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein middle hitter Reece Black tries to block a spike from Lakenheath junior Christian Agrillo during a round-robin match at the 2025 DODEA European boys volleyball championships on Nov. 7, 2025, at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Lakenheath libero Diego Vargas receives a serve during a round-robin match against Ramstein at the 2025 DODEA European boys volleyball championships on Nov. 7, 2025, at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Lakenheath outside hitter Jaylon Gatewood spikes the ball during a round-robin match against Ramstein at the 2025 DODEA European boys volleyball championships on Nov. 7, 2025, at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Ramstein outside hitter Jayden-Shelton Murphy serves during a round-robin match against Stuttgart at the 2025 DODEA European boys volleyball championships on Nov. 7, 2025, at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
Vilseck defensive specialist Benson Lorcher serves during a round-robin match Lakenheath at the 2025 DODEA European boys volleyball championships on Nov. 7, 2025, at Kaiserslautern High School in Kaiserslautern, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)
The Panthers’ first opponent of the day, Ramstein, bounced back from that early loss to beat Lakenheath 25-15, 25-16, 25-23 and Vilseck 25-22, 25-22, 25-23 to book the last spot in Saturday’s final.
Coach Eric Kotzar praised his players’ turn around after starting off the day on the wrong foot.
“The guys just took some time, they talked to each other and they just decided that they needed to be more focused and ready to go,” Kotzar said.
The Vilseck match was a pressure cooker, being the last match and the decider to advance to the title contest.
And it played as tightly as advertised, with the Royals squeaking out all three sets.
“It’s always nerve-racking when you’re that close, but you got to trust in the guys to go out and do what they have to do,” Kotzar said. “I really just think their energy and their effort was much better against Vilseck than earlier in the day.”
Those results set up a rematch in the championship match. Kotzar said his players are looking for some payback.
The Panthers are anticipating getting the Royals’ best, while hoping their Friday form carries over to Saturday.
“It’s going to be hard,” Stuttgart coach Nicole Andre said. “Every one of our players had a great day (Friday), and as long as we do that (Saturday), we’ll be great.”
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