![“[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 water polo lost 13-16 to Palo Alto High School at the Singh Aquatic Center on Sept. 17.
Center Zoe Cammer (10) consecutively scored the first two goals for Harker after Palo Alto first put points on the board. Despite captain Summer Adler (12)’s goal bringing Eagles to 3-2, the Vikings pulled even in the last 32 seconds of the quarter.
“We were missing one of our starters, so at the beginning I wasn’t sure how we were going to play,” Summer said. “The other team was missing a girl too, so I just didn’t know how it was going to play out.”
Within the first two minutes of the second quarter, the Vikings scored, breaking the tie with a 3-4 lead. Junior Mia Tang, who recently recovered from an ankle injury, scored after a timeout, but the Vikings rebutted the Eagles with three goals within 90 seconds, one of which came as a result from an intercepted Harker pass. Zoe and Mia closed the Vikings’ lead down to 6-7 with two goals in the last minute.
“Today was a tough day, and we had a very competitive opponent,” Mia’s mother Clara Tan said. “It’s like riding an emotional rollercoaster, and you worry how they’re going to respond to one of the bad plays. It’s good to see them stick it out until the end.”
Entering the second half, the teams traded one goal every minute to bring the score to 10-9 with 3:57 remaining. Although Palo Alto tried to regain their lead after calling a timeout, Harker ended the quarter in the lead 12-10.
“The whole team stepped up, and they gave it their all. I’m very proud of them,” he said. (Cynthia Xie)
Head coach Laci Szieben commended the girls on continuing to persevere and creating attacking chances despite the tough opponents and roster deficits. Keren Eisenberg, one of the captains, missed the game because she was sick.
“Our defense started to look good,” Coach Szieben said. “There were some key moments where we lost our momentum, but we also held it for a long time. Palo Alto is a good team, but this shows that we are very good as well. We have something special going on here.”
Palo Alto employed a new strategy in the final quarter, where a defender lobbed long passes to offensive players almost halfway across the pool. Outpacing the Eagles, the Vikings pushed their lead to 12-16.
Harker continued struggling against matching Palo Alto’s increased pace and getting open and away from defenders. Goalie Jasmine Hansra (11) pushed up into the field to bolster the offense at the tail end of the quarter. Despite Mia’s first in-game skip-shot, the Eagles failed to close the gap and ended the game down 13-16.
“We all worked really, really hard,” Zoe said. “We gave it our all. Our team really got better, and it was a fantastic game. Even when we were losing, we were still focused on the game.”
Varsity girls water polo currently holds a 5-2 record and plays Los Altos High School on Tuesday.
