By Anndy Serrano and Fariha Fawziah
On April 9th, we watched the MCSM boys volleyball team getting ready to play the Seward Park Team. We saw them practice, and as they worked out they seemed to be trying especially hard to give it all that they had. Our athletes clearly demonstrated drive, and competitive spirit.
We saw a crowd gather, and soon a fair amount of people were in the bleachers to support our team. We definitely felt fans rooting for each and every teammate.
The starters for the first game were: Saad Rahman, Johnny Wang, David Mena, Justin Desprebiteres, Emmanuel Bautista, Jeffrey Garcia. We didn’t get a chance to get the names of their opponents although we were impressed by their work. The MCSM team got off to a shaky start, falling behind 0-7, but then they started to communicate better and increased their score to 12-15.
Justin and Emmanuel both looked out for the ball every time it came their way, striving to make points for their team. However, there seemed to be too little coordination between them, since there was a point where the ball landed between both of them and neither caught it. Saad, the captain of the volleyball team, kept leading the whole team by giving orders and telling them what they had to do, along with Johnny.
Jeffrey proved to be the main motivator for the team, along with a sophomore named Brian. They both kept cheering throughout the game, and this made the entire MCSM team scream louder for each other. Although the only other players we watched making significant plays that day were a junior named Sam and the sophomore Brian, we can’t deny the enthusiasm the whole team brought to this sport.
During the first round, the MCSM team ended up with 17-25. As for the Seward Park Team, we saw their teammates switching in and out, behaving all in all like a highly structured unit. We were genuinely surprised by the Seward Park team. They paced themselves, passed the ball to each other, and maintained communication. Yet we witnessed no spirited fan support for the Seward Park players, which seemed peculiar, since they were obviously a well developed team.
Although the MCSM team lost to Seward Park, it was an amazing game. We sure hope to see more from our volleyball team this year and we’ll be rooting for them. (We also think the three team managers—Anita Lu, Jennifer Santana and Nguyen—should be recognized for their ongoing support of the players!)
Below, we include commentary from interviews we conducted with the Captain, the Assistant Captain, and a player from the boys volleyball team to show their point of view on their hopes and goals for this year.
Interview with Saad Rahman (Co-Captain)
Q: How do you think the MCSM Volleyball Team is doing this season?
Saad: “I think they are coming together as a team and I think we will know how to win. It is based on the teamwork. In the beginning, we didn’t know each other, and our skills were limited, but I think we are coming together. We just need a little push in the right direction.
Q: What do you think is missing to bring the team together?
Saad: Communication is the biggest loss in volleyball. You have to talk to each other so that we can be better able to handle the ball. We really need to work on how we handle the ball because it gets jumbled up when we actually play, which can interfere with the flow of the game.
Q: Overall, how do you think the volleyball team will perform in the next season?
Saad: I think we are heading on the right path, and I think we are learning from our mistakes. We will start to work [better] together and we will be able to win the season if we have communication, confidence, and courage.
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Interview with Justin Desprebiteres (Assistant Captain) and Erick Munoz (Receiver)
Q: What made each of you try out for Volleyball?
Justin: I was previously on the tennis team with Mr Wienfield. He told me about the volleyball team and he wanted me to join. I wanted to do a team sport during my high school career. I wanted to make friends through joining these teams. Fun fact: my grandmother also used to play volleyball.
Erick: I wanted to join the volleyball team because I had played it previously. I thought it was time to join this team so that I can expand my abilities to play volleyball, and contribute to a team.
Q: What have you learned by playing on this team?
Justin: I have learned teamwork, dedication, tenacity, and a growth mindset from being on the team.
Q: How do you feel about being part of the team?
Erick: I feel underappreciated, because during practice most of the focus is on the starters. However, I [also] worry about next year and it bothers me that the other players aren’t trained equally. I understand that our common goal is to win games and hopefully get to Nationals. But our team is segregated by skill instead of rising as one. Overall, I am still glad I am part of something more, and I am excited to be part of it.
Q: What do you plan on doing for the team next year?
Justin: Since I am going to be the captain next year, I plan to keep improving as a team by letting players improve their skills and their strategies. Along with the new recruits, I will try to make them the best that they can be to support the team. I turned out to love volleyball, and since I am tall, it’s a good sport to play.
Erick: I plan on staying on the team for next year. Not only have we improved our skills from last year, but we’ve also grown closer with each other. Not joining the team would be like abandoning them. I want to become a better player and I want to be able to watch the team go to victory.
Q: What would you improve for next year?
Justin: Since there will be a lot of newcomers, I plan to have more practice time so that we can become better players and teammates. More practice can actually make us closer, and make us understand how we can all improve.
Erick: Communication is one of the skills we need to work on, as well as developing everyone’s skills instead of just the starters’. I think that they should train us to be a better [unified] team, rather than [for] individual praise.
