![“[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)
On Saturday March 31, the Varsity boys’ volleyball team won fifth place out of twenty teams at the Watsonville Tournament in Watsonville, winning the silver division championship in the process.
The team went 4-1 but played without co-captain Akshay Tangutur (12), who was out with an injury. Though the injury was initially thought to be a sports hernia that would require surgery, he will still have to undergo recovery and rehabilitation for about a month and may be back to play the final game of the regular season against Mountain View on May 4.
“To me, tournament wins are definitely confidence boosters for the team [….] While all the players and teams are still working hard to earn that win and improve their respective records, tournaments are fun, since teams can experiment and try out new things,” Akshay said. “I was able to watch the game from the eyes of a spectator, but more importantly, like a coach. At times, I definitely was able to see points and plays that the starters couldn’t see, and I attempted to coach them and hopefully [had] a positive impact.”
Akshay’s injury affected the performance of the whole team, as many players had to adapt to playing different positions.
“Because of his absence on the court, we shifted around multiple players into new positions,” co-captain Dwight Payne (12) said. “Overall, we performed well and learned a lot as a team through the five matches.”
The team’s only loss was against Westmont, but it defeated Soquel in two sets in the final. Without Akshay, Andrew Zhu (10) was also a captain for the team.
“This tournament was the turning point for our team. We really began to click and function as a cohesive unit and aIl hope that it can carry on for the rest of the season,” Andrew said.
Head Coach Dan Molin hopes that the experience the players had will help them in future games, beginning with their next game against Homestead on April 11.
“The full day of play not only serves as an opportunity for the team to gel as a competitive unit, but [also] spending an entire day together is naturally a bonding experience,” he said.
Josh Tien (11) also thinks that the tournament win will help them for the remaining games.
“The way we played in the tournament is definitely something we should be happy about, but we also can’t get too carried away, and we have to maintain the same focus and intensity for the rest of the season,” he said.
The team has seven league games and a two-day tournament remaining before the CCS playoffs begin.
