![“[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 dominated Los Altos High School 8-2 at the Singh Aquatic Center on Sept. 24.
Both teams started the first quarter with a series of missed attempts before Tvisha Ganesh (10) scored Harker’s first goal with two minutes left. Los Altos quickly retaliated off a steal, tying the score 1-1.
Head coach Lazlen Szieben attributed the low number of points scored at the beginning of the game to the team’s lack of energy.
“Today we didn’t have the mental preparedness for the game,” Coach Szieben said. “We started slow and put the same speed for the whole game. We need to have high intensity in practice and handling games as well.”
Despite Harker’s sluggish start, Zoe Cammer (10) attained the first goal of the second quarter. Following shortly after, Anoushka Madan (10) passed to senior Summer Adler, who brought the score to 3-1. Within the last 20 seconds of the quarter, Los Altos scored a goal, giving Harker only a single-point lead.
Following halftime, the two teams contested for shots without gaining an advantage until Summer and Zoe each scored a goal back to back with less than three minutes left in the quarter. With the help of the Harker defense, goalie Jasmine Hansra (11), who made saves including the final block at a Los Altos effort at scoring, concluded the quarter.
Defender Abby Lim (12) acknowledged Jasmine’s contributions in the game and commented on the team’s elevated defense.
“The game is an experience to learn from, to push ourselves to swim faster, shoot harder,” Abby said. “But in general we really worked on our press defense, and we improved that quite a bit in this game. We were able to take a lot of shots, and our goalie did very well — she was able to block a lot of those really difficult shots.”
Anoushka and Tvisha kickstarted the fourth quarter with consecutive points, and Jasmine protected the goal by undermining all Los Altos attempts at scoring in the second half. Zoe delivered a final power shot that ended the game at an 8-2 victory for Harker.
“The girls, since the beginning, are working way better together,” Juliana Cammer, Zoe’s mother, said. “I feel like every single game they improve. This was a pretty good game though because we know this is one of the strongest teams, so they did a great job.”
Tvisha reflected on the team’s post-game group huddle, taking note of the team’s regained confidence.
“We were all not afraid to get in and shoot the ball,” Tvisha said. “I know we all missed a couple, but we didn’t let that get to our head and just kept shooting, kept going for it. Don’t let one mistake get to your head and just keep pushing through it.”
Varsity girls water polo currently holds a 6-2 record and will play Castilleja next on Tuesday.
