![“[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 boys’ volleyball loses to Mountain View High School at home
Catherine Huang
Ray Song (11) prepares to make a kill after Charlie Molin (9) sets the ball. Harker lost to Mountain View High School today after playing three sets.
March 15, 2016
Varsity boys’ volleyball played against Mountain View High School today at home and lost three sets with scores of 20-25, 16-25, and 21-25, and their record for this season so far is 1-4.
Coach Alex Jones feels that the team will do better moving forward in the season.
“[I feel] super optimistic,” he said. “I think that we are starting to understand what it takes to play really well and to play at a high level. We’ve lost three of those matches in five sets, so we’ve gotten a lot of good practice. I think we’ve got a lot of really strong players. We’ve tried a lot of lineups and given a lot of people a chance. I think it’s really good long term, what we’ve done.”
Andrew Gu (11) and Luke Wu (12) made two memorable plays during the game.
“Andrew Gu just totally crushed one down the line. He’s a great hitter and I think it’s the little things for me,” Jones said. “It’s stepping in front, Luke the libero, he did a great job, he stepped in front of the outside to pass a free ball and I think we made some clutch serves at key times.”
Chris Gong, one of two freshmen on the team, thought that the team played hard against Mountain View High School.
“We played pretty well. It was just a matter of being beat on serve-receive because we couldn’t receive their serves, we couldn’t get good enough passes to start our offense and on defense our blocks seemed to somewhat fall apart and they were able to tool us,” he said. “I think that this is a pretty good team and I think that we have a pretty good shot in our league, but it’s just a matter of getting everything together and refining all the little details that will make us a winning team.”
A key moment in the game for him was when he realized a new technique to play better against the other team.
“I think a memorable moment for me was when I figured out how to beat the block and when I was actually able to start getting more kills, it was good,” Chris said.
Luke felt that the team could have worked harder, but the opponent was strong as well.
“It seemed like we could have done better but they were a pretty good team too. The game overall was okay. I tried to pick up a dump, which is basically when an opposite sider flicks it over, and then Andrew Gu picked it up instead, but I was midway through and he hit it over me, so I had to roll over with my other hand, and I picked it up,” he said.
The team plays at the Campbell Volleyball Classic Tournament at Leigh High School this Saturday.
