![“[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 tennis narrowly succumbed to Menlo School 3-4 at Blackford on Tuesday.
Eagles’ singles players, seniors Audrey Feng and Olivia Guo, junior Pavith Khara and frosh Kendra Zhao all won their first sets 6-1, 7-6(7-5), 6-2 and 6-0 respectively. Audrey, Pavith and Kendra went on to dominate their matches 6-1, 6-1 and 6-0, but Olivia conceded the next sets 2-6 and 3-10.
“It was an epic battle we had against our rivals and defending NorCal Champions,” varsity girls tennis coach J.P. Fruttero said. “We have a young team, but the girls are hungry and continuing to get better. Coach John [Fruttero] and I are super proud of the girls’ incredible effort and look forward to what the second half of the season has in store.”
In the doubles matches, frosh Omya Vidyarthi and Olivia Zhao came up short in two sets 1-6 and 4-6. Sophomore Claire Xu and junior Anika Akkiraju, the second doubles team, lost to their opponents 1-6 and 2-6, while frosh pairing Abby Cheng and Shiori Lin, lost 3-6 and 0-6.
“It didn’t go as we expected, but we played with a lot of improvements since the start of the season,” Shiori said. “But because we have been practicing almost every weekday, even though it just didn’t go as expected next year we’ll have better chances of winning.”
Xiaohua Du, father of frosh varsity girls tennis player Chian-Shin Du, watched the matches from the sidelines and appreciated the support from teammates.
“This is actually my first home tennis game, so I enjoyed the match a lot,” Du said. “I had a good time watching them play and seeing them cheer for one another was really nice, too.”
Looking forward to the future, Anika remarked on the team’s improved morale since the start of the season and hopes to fight for a place in the Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs.
“Our energy throughout the game has been better,” Anika said. “Up at the net, sometimes we get a little scared, but we’ve been working on that a lot this season. We’re going to try to make CCS — it will be a pretty hard road, but we’re going to try our best and see where it takes us.”The team currently holds a season record of 4-2 and plays Sacred Heart Preparatory on Oct. 22.
