![“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)
Freshman and sophomore and JV girls volleyball teams play Sacred Heart Preparatory
Co-captain Hannah Sobczyn (9) serves the ball to Sacred Heart Prep. During the match, the team only missed one serve.
October 11, 2017
The freshman and sophomore volleyball team beat Sacred Heart Preparatory last night at the upper school athletics center. Winning the game in only two sets, the team finished with scores of 25-14 and 25-12, respectively.
“I think the game went pretty well. We did a lot better than the first time we played Sacred Heart,” libero Rashmi Iyer (10) said after the match.
The team started off strong with 11-4, but Sacred Heart made a comeback, bringing the score to 12-10. When Harker was leading 15-10, Sacred Heart called the first timeout. The second timeout, also from Sacred Heart, was called when Harker was in the lead 21-12.
“We all kept our energy level and encouraged each other, and we only missed one serve in the whole match,” co-captain Hannah Sobczyn (9) said.
Harker stayed in the lead for the rest of the set, and after a serve from Sacred Heart, Harker successfully scored the winning point with a kill.
Caroline Yager (10) high-fives teammate Rashmi Iyer (10). The freshman and sophomore team beat Sacred Heart Prep in two sets.
Harker scored the first point during the second set, beginning with a score of 1-0. Hannah served three consecutive times, increasing Harker’s score to 7-3. When Harker was taking the lead 11-4, Sacred Heart called their third timeout. During the middle of the game, an long rally emerged, which the Gators eventually won, even though the Eagles still had a lead of 14-6. Sacred Heart once again made a comeback, closing the gap from 17-6 to 22-12. Elaine Zhai’s (9) serve aced the other team, scoring the winning point.
“We need to call the ball more. I think talk more on the court, and know where [we] are on the court because we’re kind of unaware of that some of the times,” co-captain Meona Khetrapal (9) said, as she believes that the team has room to improve in future games.
The JV girls volleyball team also played Sacred Heart Prep after the freshman and sophomore team and lost against Sacred Heart Preparatory in two sets.
In the first set, Sacred Heart gained an early lead, but towards the end of the set, Harker began to build momentum with crucial blocks from middle blockers Lauren Beede (10) and Dylan Williams (9). However, the Gators took the first set 25-22.
The girls started off strong in the second set, with four consecutive kills and an ace from Cynthia Chen (10) to put the Eagles up 9-4. Then, Sacred Heart came back, beginning a close back-and-forth battle between the two teams. In the end, Sacred Heart won the second set 25-19.
“I think overall it went pretty well, and we learned a lot from this game,” Cynthia said. “But towards the end, we started falling apart due to a lack of communication, but overall it was a fun game.”
The freshman sophomore girls volleyball team’s overall record is now 10-2. The JV girls team os now 10-7 overall and 4-4 in league. The teams play Notre Dame away on Friday October 13th. Freshman and sophomore plays at 3:45, and JV plays at 5:15.
