The girls volleyball team held their senior night on Oct. 23 at their last home game against Fremont High School. The event highlighted the five seniors on the varsity team— Mia Braceros, Trisha Chung, Jasleen Dhaliwal, Esther Liu, and Alyssa Maldonado. The ceremony started before the game, consisting of junior varsity (JV) coach Deana Querubin reading pre-written messages from the seniors into a microphone. Simultaneously, the seniors made a grand entrance through the bridge made by other varsity and JV players putting their hands together.
Senior Esther Liu was one of the starting players at the game and was celebrated alongside the other seniors. Underclassmen collected gifts and made posters; they also prepared “letters, baskets, flowers, and so much food,” she said.
The greatest lesson she learned from playing volleyball for four years “is resilience, especially emotional resilience,” Liu said. “I felt bittersweet, almost like, ‘Oh, look how far I’ve come’ since I didn’t know anything about volleyball before and now I can play the game well.”
Liu felt very emotional at her last match, she said. She shed a lot of tears, and it is still hard for her to believe that she is a senior, she added.
“It’s definitely weird being a senior; it doesn’t fully sink in,” Liu said. “As for what the seniors embody, I think it’s the goofiness and silliness. We have so much fun together, and we always look out for each other so I hope that continues.”
According to varsity head coach Marissa Canez, this particular senior night was difficult, not because of the opponent, but because of the pressure of the occasion.
This game is “important because it’s senior night and technically the last match for them, so just getting the win for them is what they all play hard for,” Canez said.
The seniors this year have made a big improvement since when they first started playing, Canez added. She hopes for the team next year to adopt the seniors’ consistent traits of “leadership, hard work, and good sportsmanship,” she said.
The seniors have had an immense impact on younger players on the varsity team, said junior Kylie Dang, who has been watching the current seniors play since her freshman year.
“I’ve always looked up to them, especially during practices, and they always give me advice whenever I play my games,” Dang said. “They comfort me when I’m down or in my own head and motivate me to do better.”
Dang, along with other underclassmen, will have to step up and take on more of a leadership role next year, she added.
“Right now, I look up to the seniors; they’re the role models on the team,” she said. “So stepping up and working towards being someone other people can look up to will be important.”
The seniors’ impact is seen even on the junior varsity team, sophomore JV player Jazlynne Bulan said. She will miss the seniors a lot, and hopes they come back to visit, Bulan said.
“They worked so hard to get to this day,” Bulan said. “They give us amazing tips on how to be better players and play volleyball better. We all look up to them a lot.”