Under blinding lights, Liza Shchegrov (12) remembers taking a deep breath as she stood against the back line of the court, feeling the leather of the volleyball in her hands. The score was 22-22. Liza lifts the ball as the sound of her teammates’ cheering faded out and a few seconds later, the ball hit the top of the net — a gut wrenching moment — and flew over the net into the other side of the court.

Volleyball is a key component of Liza’s life. Although she did not begin the sport until fourth grade, she had been captivated by her father’s playing volleyball since second grade and soon fell in love with it. For Liza, the team aspect of playing volleyball constantly motivates her to continue with the sport.

“The team attitude is really nice especially when you can hold each other up,” Liza said. “Playing sports at a high level is really mentally tough, but when you play with a team you get to mentally support each other.”

Liza recalls continuing to connect with her team over quarantine during her sophomore and junior years through team workouts, challenges and socially distanced get-togethers. Quarantine served as a chance for Liza to connect with her team before the season started, and it was also a time for Liza to continue improving on her abilities.

“I was proud of working my way up to being a starting player on a club team because I started really late,” Liza said. “It was rough at first, especially when everyone around you is already so much more experienced. Another one of my proudest moments was working hard independently during quarantine on myself and my skills to where I was when I got back, even though I hadn’t been playing with a team for a while, I was a much stronger player.”

As an avid volleyball player and a student with a grueling schedule, Liza sometimes finds it difficult to manage her time, but her determination for her work and for her sport keeps her going. Liza’s hard work and determination paid off when she went to Northern California Volleyball Association (NCVA) 2021 Nationals with her team. A select 64 teams from the NCVA leagues are chosen to get bids, obtained through finishing in a set position in a qualifier tournament.

“At first, [Nationals] was a little bit of a shock because we didn’t realize until then how many teams would be there and how many people there played at the level that we played at,” Liza said. “We had to learn how to quickly manage that shock and the stress. But as time went on, we started playing better and together as a team and got into our groove.”

During quarantine, in addition to volleyball, Liza found that connecting with her teachers proved to be rewarding and helpful. Ohad Paran, upper school English teacher, recalls that in her sophomore year, Liza had little issues adjusting to online class. Paran, impressed by Liza’s growth from her sophomore year to now in his Holocaust Literature class, credits most of her improvement to her own effort as almost half of Liza’s high school years have been online. Paran recalls the day that Liza completed a project during office hours after missing his class earlier that day.

“The fact that she’s so insanely busy with the athletic schedule makes it possible for her to work extremely quickly,” Paran said. “At the same time, she’s able to produce complete, well-done, finished products and is always prepared.”

Liza has been a constant source of support and encouragement for her friends and is able to foster a feeling of belonging to the people whom she interacts with. Alyssa Tomberg (12), who has been friends with Liza since second grade, admires Liza’s ability to put effort into building relationships with people and maintaining those connections.

“[Liza] has a lot of soul in her,” Alyssa said. “She’s very kind and caring and she’s incredibly loyal to the people she loves. I feel like she’s one of those people that I can hang out with just for fun, but I can also have more in depth discussions about life.”

From connecting with the people around her, Liza acquired the ability to bounce back from mistakes, knowing that she has the people who will support her and back her up. Being in a team helped her foster this feeling of community with the people around her. She describes herself as strong-minded when it comes to her aspirations. She has found that having the support of the people around her by building connections with them has helped her cultivate the sense of not giving up.

Anna Weirich (‘21) has fond memories of spending time with Liza, often planning their excursions spontaneously. As a collegiate-level cross country athlete, Anna often talks with Liza about their respective sports, often attending each other’s events to support each other.

“I admire that [Liza] has a really good way of keeping her head up and she shows the power of being positive all the time,” Anna said. “She also always really wants to support everyone around her.”

Today, Liza’s determination and effort continue to play a prominent role in her life. Supporting her friends and connecting with the people around her has been a long time goal that she continues to accomplish daily.

“One of the biggest pieces of advice I have to give is to find a way to connect yourself with the people at this school, whether it be other students or teachers,” Liza said. “I’m also a big advocate for being supportive of your friends and peers and try to always be there even though it is hard with schoolwork. Being connected with the people around you is really important.”