![“I wasn't discouraged by some of the obstacles we faced. I learned a lot from the leadership. I found that different people need different ways of receiving feedback — you can't [just] tell them to do something and expect the best. [Some] people needed more incentive. A large part of my role was to figure out what worked for everyone and to figure out how to lead all these separate individuals as a team,” Suhana Bhandare (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SuhanaBhandare_JasmineHansra-1-1200x798.jpg)
![“This is actually from Randy Pausch Randy P. Brick: ‘Walls are there for a reason. You have to show how much you want to overcome them.’ You have to show how much you want something. That's what I've always been able to do with tennis, Link Crew and getting that internship [with Kushy Baby]. It’s important pushing through that — getting around that brick wall, climbing over it or clawing through it,” Yash Sachdeva (’26) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/YashSachdeva_RamBatchu-copy-1200x1002.jpg)
![“[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)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[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 beats Notre Dame
During the first set of their game, Shreya Dixit (12) goes up to hit the ball. She successfully kills the ball and scores a point.
In the second league game of the season, the Harker varsity volleyball team beat Notre Dame in three games out of five.
Previously having beaten Notre Dame in a tournament, the team felt confident about its chances of winning.
Doreene Kang (11) said prior to the game, “I’m pretty confident about it. I think we should be fine if we play as well as we always try to.”
Harker, wearing their white jerseys, cheered energetically and wished the other team luck. They scored the first point, but lost the second. After losing six points in a row, Notre Dame called a timeout and soon caught up. Harker called a timeout and quickly scored the following point.
At match point for Harker, Notre used their second and final timeout. Still, Harker won the first game 25-20 when the opposing team missed their serve.
Similar to the first game, Harker scored the first point. The score this time was much closer and neither team had a definite lead at this point in the match. Harker pulled ahead and near the middle of the game, the score was 15-8, at which point Notre Dame called a timeout.
Notre Dame began to close the point gap until they were only one point behind. Harker fought back and won the game 25-22 with a kill by their middle blocker.
During the third game, Harker switched some of its players, and their two recently injured members got a chance to play.
“I went out and was a little nervous at first, and then got my chance to hit and ended up getting a kill, and then shook all the nerves off and was glad that I was back,” said Lauren Napier (9), one of the recently injured players.
Notre Dame was ahead by one point, but Harker continued to play their best and won the last game 25-22 once again.
Earlier this week, Harker lost to Menlo at a home game.
Shannon Richardson (11) said, “I think it was a tough loss against Menlo earlier in the week, and even though [Notre Dame] isn’t considered that great of a team, I think we brought it back. I’m proud of each and every one of my teammates.”
Another team captain, Shreya Dixit (12), was extremely confident in her teammates.
“There was one point in the third game where Notre Dame was ahead by a point, but honestly, I believe and trust my teammates,” Shreya said.
Their next game is 5:45 on Thursday Oct. 9 at Castilleja.
Megan Cardosi is a junior and Sports Editor for TALON Yearbook. This is Megan's third year on staff. In her free time, Megan enjoys playing volleyball,...