![“[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)
Junior varsity boys volleyball suffered a loss to Lynbrook High School 0-2 on May 1 in the Zhang Gymnasium.
The first set began with the two teams battling neck-and-neck until outside hitter Ethan Gu (10) brought the Eagles to a 5-3 lead. Shortly after, the Eagles gained a 10-7 lead over Lynbrook. A foot fault from Lynbrook added another point for the Eagles.
Lynbrook pushed back with a tip and two stuff blocks to bring the score to 11-11. The Eagles dug deep on defense through consistently setting up strong double blocks. However, they lost their lead due to hitting errors out of bounds, and the score widened to 11-20.
Co-Captain and setter Dillon Ho (10) reflected on pitfalls that led to Lynbrook’s upper-hand in the first set.
“I think we had a lot of hitting errors today,” Dillon said. “Overall our passing was pretty decent, not bad. We had a lot of errors as well — hitting into the net a lot and hitting balls out.”
Harker fought back after a time out with a kill from middle blocker Spencer Mo (10), but Lynbrook was able to side out efficiently and match Harker’s offense. The first set concluded with the Eagle’s defeat 17-25.
“They had a very good start, and then they made some mistakes by themselves, and they started to lose momentum,” outside hitter David Tang’s (10) mother Chenhui Xia said. “If they could have overcome those mistakes, then it could have been a close game.”
Early in the second set, Harker gained the initial lead with a score of 3-0. The Eagles executed more kills, maintaining their lead of 6-4. However, out-of-bounds shots by Harker and a kill by Lynbrook brought the score back to 7-7.
Despite attempts to block the opposing team’s hits, the Eagles failed to sustain their initial lead, falling behind 9-11 after Lynbrook’s successful spikes. After calling a timeout, they still struggled to block Lynbrook’s aggressive offense which widened the Vikings’ lead to 14-21. The Eagles fought back but ultimately lost the second set 18-25.
Diana Melendez, the head coach for JV boys’ volleyball, reflected on the team’s performance. She emphasized the new techniques the team was experimenting with, ultimately focusing on lessons the team could take away from the loss.
“Today we were trying some different things. I think it went better in the second set than the first set because we were still trying to figure it out,” Melendez said. “They persevered, and I don’t usually care as much about the score as them executing the things that we were working on. We still have some growth to do, so it’s a work in progress.”
The team played the last game of the season against Homestead on Wednesday. They hold a league record of 1-4 and an overall record of 2-7.
![Senior Gabe Sachse and sophomore Shaurya Jain hug after winning the game. “I don’t want to say goodbye because [the seniors] are my friends outside of baseball as well,” Shaurya said. “Either way, I wanted to go all out for the seniors.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/53-KAT_4240-e1747776384650-1200x778.jpg)
