The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

The student news site of The Harker School.

Harker Aquila

‘Hustle for Muscle’ raises awareness of muscular dystrophy

Spencer+Mak+%2810%29+and+Adrian+Liu+%2810%29+block+a+hit+from+Vishnu+Kannan+%2812%29+during+the+sophomores+versus+senior+match+in+the+%E2%80%9CHustle+for+Muscle%E2%80%9D+volleyball+tournament.+The+seniors+won+the+game+15-11.

Kinnera Mulam

Spencer Mak (10) and Adrian Liu (10) block a hit from Vishnu Kannan (12) during the sophomores versus senior match in the “Hustle for Muscle” volleyball tournament. The seniors won the game 15-11.

by Katelyn Zhao and Ananya Sriram

Freshman, sophomore, junior, senior and faculty teams faced off in the annual “Hustle for Muscle” volleyball tournament hosted by Harker DECA and Harker Spirit Leadership Team (HSLT) during lunch last Tuesday and Thursday in the Zhang Athletic Center. The event’s initiative to raise awareness for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), a nonprofit that works to cure muscular dystrophy, attracted a crowd of around 100 students, administration and faculty. 

In the past, DECA has raised money for MDA by selling ice cream during basketball, soccer and volleyball tournaments.

“This year due to COVID, we weren’t able to sell any food during the game like we normally do to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association,” Harker DECA director of Finance Trisha Variyar (11) said. “We also did this to promote Winter Wishes, which we are doing this year for fundraising for the association.“

Through Winter Wishes, a fundraiser organized by DECA for MDA, students can give $5 to support the cause by Nov. 30 and send a holiday gift of chocolate, candy canes, hot chocolate, a note and a rubber duck or polar bear toy to someone at Harker. Although only Winter Wishes are being used for fundraising this year, DECA chose to hold “Hustle for Muscle” this year due to their tradition of holding the game and to help raise awareness for mda during the game, during which they could talk about the organization.

“It was good to see the community get together to watch the game and to support a good cause during lunch,” said Alfredo Alves, assistant athletics director for the upper school and referee for the tournament.

DECA has been fundraising for MDA for six years with annual volleyball tournaments, encouraging students to help Harker DECA support MDA’s cause to find treatments for muscular dystrophy in patients in America.

Due to remote learning during the 2019-2020 school year, DECA changed its usual volleyball game fundraiser to selling St. Patrick’s Day goodie bags due to remote learning.

 “Last year, we did the Lucky Charms fundraiser instead, so I thought it was great to collaborate with HSLT in person again and fundraise for MDA,” DECA Co-CEO Gianna “Gigi” Chan (12) said. 

Both the freshmen and junior teams started off strong with serves from Aaron Guo (9) and Tyler Beede (11). Saves and spikes from Leo Sobcyzn (9), tips from Navya Samuel (9) and an ace from Norah Mehanna (9) put the freshmen up 7-6 five minutes into the match. The juniors upped their game, tying the score at 14-14 just before the final play. HSLT and DECA added an extra 30 seconds to the game clock to break the tie, and the freshmen team capitalized on the time, ultimately pulling ahead for an 18-16 victory. 

The sophomores faced the seniors in the next match, with Tara Ozdemir (12) serving first. Blocks by Spencer Mak (10) and spikes from Vishnu Kannan (12) led to wild cheering from onlookers. Following a tip from Adrian Liu (10) and a spike from Spencer, the sophomores evened the score to 11-11. The two teams exchanged points for a majority of the match without any obvious winner, but in the end, the seniors won 15-11.

For the semifinals, the freshman team played the seniors and the sophomores played the juniors on Thursday during long lunch. The sophomores won 14-6 against the juniors, earning the third place spot for 200 spirit points, while the juniors received 100 points for fourth place. The freshman class beat the seniors with a score of 8-3, giving them 400 points for first place, while the seniors received 300 for second. The freshman class will also receive a Krispy Kreme party for winning.

The freshman class advanced to the final stage of the tournament to play against teachers in the faculty-student match, with the freshman team winning in the first set. However, faculty caught up to the freshmen in the next two sets, giving the faculty a win against the freshmen. 

“While I hope everyone who watched the game [on Thursday] enjoyed watching people in their class play a competitive game of volleyball, I also hope they became more aware of the reason why DECA is doing this,” Trisha said.

A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to the sophomore team as the freshman team in a photo caption. The article has been updated on Nov. 23, 2021 to reflect the correction of this error.

About the Contributors
Photo of Katelyn Zhao
Katelyn Zhao, Humans of Harker Co-Editor-in-Chief

Katelyn Zhao (12) is the co-editor-in-chief of Humans of Harker, and this is her fourth year on staff. Katelyn aims to honor each of the stories within...

Photo of Ananya Sriram
Ananya Sriram, Winged Post Co-Managing Editor

Ananya Sriram (12) is a co-managing editor for the Winged Post, and this is her fourth year on staff. This year, Ananya hopes to bond more with members...

Photo of Kinnera Mulam
Kinnera Mulam, Winged Post Co-Editor-in-Chief

Kinnera Mulam (12) is the co-editor-in-chief of the Winged Post, and this is her fourth year on staff. This year, Kinnera hopes to get to know all the...

Navigate Left
  • Ritu Belani (12) discusses the Language and Linguistics Club with Anoushka Chakravarty (10) outside the Athletic Center (AC) during Club Fair on Tuesday. The Language and Linguistics Club hosts activities like the North American Computational Linguistics Open (NACLO) competition and language puzzles.

    News

    Club Fair connects students with new opportunities

  • Students gather in the Rothschild Performing Arts Center (RPAC) back room during the lockdown at around 3:30 pm. Around 50 students waited in the room, dismissed thirty minutes later.

    News

    Upper school campus enters lockdown, campus all-clear

  • Juniors Sam Parupudi and Sanaa Bhorkar paint the Class of 2025s eagle white. Each grade colored their eagle white ahead of Spirit Week in October, during which classes will decorate their respective eagles to their assigned theme.

    News

    Community jumps into year of spirit with Spirit Kickoff

  • Upper school biology teacher Matthew Harley invites students and faculty to vote for Arjun Gurjar (12)s video for the 2023 Breakthrough Junior Challenge during school meeting on Friday. The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is a science video competition, and Arjun could win a $100,000 prize for Harker if his entry advances to the final round.

    News

    School meeting recap 9/8/23: Academic updates, Mock Trial and Club Fair

  • A parent converses with athletics department representative Vyom Vidyarthi (11) at the Harker athletics booth during Back-to-School Day on Saturday. Club and organization representatives, including faculty and students, set up booths outside the Rothschild Performing Arts Center (RPAC) Saturday morning.

    News

    Annual upper school Back to School Day bridges parent to teacher connections

  • Co-Managing Editor Jonny Xue (11) leads Harker journalism reporters in a game of “Humans of Harker: Hooray or Horror.” In the activity, reporters critiqued past environmental portraits.

    Briefs

    Humans of Harker team hosts environmental portrait workshop

  • Harker Spirit Leadership Team (HSLT) announces the annual Spirit Kickoff during school meeting on Aug. 28 in the Zhang Gymnasium. The Spirit Kickoff took place on Friday in the Quad from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

    News

    School meeting recap 8/28/23: Artist in Residence, Spirit Kickoff and safety protocols

  • Conservatory members Jason Shim (11), Luke Mehta (12), Shareen Chahal (12), Sam Parupudi (11) and Iris Cai (11) announce the Conservatory Kickoff during the school meeting on Tuesday. I will be giving you your fresh, funky musical theater and theater news along with my colleague Shareen! Jason said.

    News

    School meeting recap 8/22/23: Athletics, Conservatory Kickoff and “Guess the song”

  • HSLT President Arjun Moogimane (12) catches a football in a game of tag football with new and returning members of HSLT. Tag football was a popular game to play during free time at the HSLT retreat on Aug. 16.

    News

    HSLT retreats to Santa Cruz for day of bonding and preparation

  • A Nigerien woman holds up a sign reading we dont want a coup anymore. A military junta overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, making Niger the latest in a series of coups. (Provided by editorials.voa.gov)

    Global

    Global Headlines (Issue 1)

Navigate Right

Comments (0)

All Harker Aquila Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *