![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
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![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Varsity Girls Volleyball loses season opener vs. Homestead
Team captain Shreya Dixit (12) prepares to spike in the first girls’ volleyball game of the season. The team lost 3-1 against Homestead High School.
Varsity girls volleyball lost to Homestead High School 3-1 at its first game of the season in the Blackford gym.
The girls lost 17-25 in the first set and by a slim 24-26 in the second set. They won the third match at 25-23, but lost the fourth set 23-25.
Assistant volleyball coach Scott Petersen is proud of the team for its performance in its first game of the season and is looking forward to future matches.
“It’s the first match this season, and we’re still learning a lot,” he said. “Shreya Dixit (12) had 23 kills, Rachel Cheng (10) was playing awesome defense, and Shannon Richardson (11) was passing very well. [It’s] early in the year; sometimes when you’re in your own gym, it’s hard to figure out where you’re at until you play someone else. We don’t always schedule tough non-league opponents like [Homestead], so we’re looking forward to maybe taking one of those big time programs down.”
Although the team played a non-league opponent, the team strives to improve itself for future matches with its energy and some more practice.
“I think we started off nervous, but we really picked it up and we fought really hard against a great team,” said Varsity player Shannon Richardson (11). “If we saw them again I think we’d probably win. I’m really looking forward to seeing how much we improve; we have a really solid team and a really deep bench, so we can do a lot.”
Despite trailing at some moments in the game, the Eagles often evened out the scores.
“[The highlight of the game] was definitely the last few points; we were really really close,” said Varsity player Taylor Iantosca (10). “There were a lot of times where we would be behind by a lot, but then we would come back and sometimes even win the match.”
Spectators saw that the team fought up until the last moment and have a lot of potential.
“I think it’s looking really bright for them this year,” said Alumni Andre Tran (‘13).
The team will play its next game against Saint Francis High School on Sept. 11 at 5:30 p.m.
Priscilla Pan is the features editor for the Winged Post and co-creator of In a Nutshell. She is a senior and has been part of the journalism program for...