![“[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 loses against Valley Christian High School
Allison Cartee (11) swings to hit the ball during the game against Valley Christian High School yesterday. The varsity girls’ volleyball team lost the match in three sets.
September 7, 2017
The varsity girls’ volleyball team lost against the Valley Christian High School Warriors in the last of their pre-league season games today at the upper school athletics center.
The Eagles lost the match in three sets, with respective scores of 23-25, 22-25 and 15-25. Emily Cheng (10) served the first ball of the game, and Harker gained a five-point lead with the score at 8-3 early into the first set. The girls maintained a strong performance throughout the first set with blocks from Tiffany Shou (12) and Allison Cartee (11). Harker called a timeout in the first set when they were tied with the Warriors at 17-17 and again nearing the end of the set when the score was 22-24.
“The game of volleyball is a game of errors; there’s an error on almost every play,” team head coach Theresa (Smitty) Smith said. “I think we gave away a few points they didn’t really earn, like a missed serve or a set that was too far off the net that a hitter couldn’t get on top of.”
Both teams switched places on the court for the second set, in which the Eagles scored the first point but then fell into a three-point deficit soon after. Harker called their third timeout of the game when the score was 13-16 and their fourth timeout after both teams scored seven more points. In the third set, the Eagles held an early three-point lead. Eventually, the score evened out to 9-9 and Harker called their last timeout when the score was 14-23. Valley Christian closed out the game with a score of 15-25 for the third set.
“It’s normal to call all six timeouts, especially when you’re playing a good team like Valley Christian. It’s not necessarily because we aren’t doing well, but sometimes it’s helpful to regroup and understand how we can better our play,” right side hitter Srija Gadiraju (11) said. “Some of the best plays were when we shanked a ball and another player ran and got it up. It’s really amazing to see how much we’ve improved, even though it’s only been two weeks [into our season].”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgkDora6hY0&feature=youtu.be
Prior to today’s match against Valley Christian, the girls had played five games against Bay Area high schools and had participated in Milpitas High School’s Spikefest I on Aug. 26. The team plays their next match against Sacred Heart Preparatory for their league opener.
“We definitely want to improve our serving; we’re a really strong serving team, but a lot of the time we go back to the line and we’re not focused, so we miss a lot of our serves, which could have been points,” team co-captain Lauren Napier (12) said. “Serve receives and passing could use some work as well as getting the ball when we can and not letting the ball drop to the ground, because that’s also points lost.”
The varsity girls’ volleyball team heads to Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton for their league opener next Thursday.
