He is the Rough Rider energizer.

Joby Ramos has done just about everything in his four years as a Roosevelt volleyball player. The two-time Star-Bulletin All-State Fab 15 selection is a rarity in the public schools, someone who can dig, hit, block and set with few peers in the islands.

Ramos and teammate Kainoa Mitchell are the only two players on the squad who are active in club ball during the offseason. Kaipo Pale, a 6-foot-5 junior, is a four-sport athlete who is also in track and field this spring.

“;He improved so fast in just the couple of months of training we had with him,”; Ramos said.

Kaui Mendonca has enjoyed coaching Ramos for four years.

“;He's one of those rare kids who listens and applies what you teach,”; he said. “;He's the epitome of a good student-athlete.”;

Roosevelt is seeded second in the Division I state tournament, which begins today. The Rough Riders, ranked in the ESPN Rise Fab 50 national poll earlier in the year, will play the Kamehameha-Lahainaluna winner tomorrow in a quarterfinal at Kaimuki High School's gym.

“;Kamehameha has Micah (Christenson). 'Iolani has one of the best defenses in the state, a well-rounded defense,”; Ramos said. “;Is Punahou beatable? Any team is beatable. We'll give 'em a fight.”;

Years of practicing—his father, Michael, started a volleyball club when Joby was 11—and club coaching turned Ramos into a unique weapon. At 6-foot, 155 pounds, he's athletic enough to play several sports, it seems, but he's always stuck with volleyball, school and family.

Between practice and homework—he's an honor-roll student (3.7 cumulative grade-point average) heading to Pacific University (Ore.) this fall—Ramos likes visiting his dad at the Bishop Street location of Jamba Juice, where Michael is a manager. Strawberry Energizer is all he wants. Seeing his dad? That's a bonus in so many ways.

Nine years ago, Michael was diagnosed with lymphoma. Joby, the oldest of three boys, was in fourth grade.

“;At one point, they said he had a 30-percent chance of survival. The chemo was beating him up a lot,”; he remembered. “;It hurt to see him in that much pain.”;

Michael recovered and came back strong as ever, starting the club, then having Joby try out for one of the top clubs on Oahu, Kuikahi. Joby began playing with the club as an 11-year-old and hasn't let go since.

“;His passion and love for volleyball is evident,”; Kuikahi assistant coach Teoni Obrey said. “;He respects his teammates and the game. He started with us as a sixth-grader, where he was the youngest on our 14s team. There were times where he struggled with his confidence playing with the older boys but he never gave up.”;

With the connection to Obrey, the head coach at Hawaii Baptist during the varsity season, Ramos imagined playing for the Eagles one day.

“;I actually applied to go to HBA, but my family is not rich. We can barely afford the club funds,”; he said.

Obrey has plenty of talent at HBA, where there is no financial aid for students, but he's long past imagining what Ramos would've brought.

“;It would have been really fun, but things always seem to work out in the end. Joby and his teammates have done great things for the Rough Rider volleyball program the past four seasons,”; he said.

Ramos first hit the court as a toddler, learning the game from his mother, Kassandre. She was a setter in her day as a high school player in Washington state.

“;She says I get my hands from her,”; Ramos said.

Those hands go to work on campus at Roosevelt, where Ramos has an affinity for science classes, studying and dissecting animals. He hopes to become a physical therapist one day; Pacific has one of the most renowned PT schools on the West Coast.

On the court, he's as good a leader as he is a player.

“;In club, Joby is surrounded by seasoned volleyball players,”; Obrey said. “;Watching him play in high school, where his teammates aren't too experienced and some are brand new to the game, he is able to raise the level of their play. He is patient and constantly teaching.”;

The dreams are there for Ramos. He keeps life simple. The beach. Volleyball. School. Family.

“;I've always tried to get better. As a little kid you always have those dreams of becoming a pro athlete. You can dream. We all strive to do the best we can,”; he said. “;That dream is still going on for me.”;