Michelle Lin
Despite the absence of three players, the MC girls’ volleyball team came in first place at the Otay Ranch tournament, coming back with a trophy. This two-day tournament took place on September 20 and 21
Seniors Amelia Oross and Jenny Skaar and Freshman Isabella Reshatoff were absent, but this didn’t hinder the team from their victories against Christian, Bullard, Sweetwater, and Fortuna High School. These wins contributed to their increase in rank, with their national rank moving up 288 places and their state rank moving up 21 places.
Reshatoff, a setter and right side hitter, missed the second day of the tournament, due to an injury.
“I had a muscle spasm and I couldn’t breathe right because it hit the muscle,” Reshatoff said. “It’s hard to sit on the sidelines because you really want to play, but it’s good to support your team as well.”
Reshatoff doesn’t think the absence of three players had a big impact on their performance, because the team worked around that obstacle.
“Although some people played in positions that they weren’t used to, our connection and teamwork really built us together,” Reshatoff said.
Going into the tournament, Freshman Janesssa Mata didn’t expect to win.
“We went into the tournament with really high hopes,” Mata said. “We wanted to do our best and coming in first wasn’t really expected, but it was really fun.”
The tournament got easier as time went on for Mata, who is an outside hitter.
“On the first day, we were really fighting hard against a lot of the teams and it was a lot of good competition, but we really stayed in it and were able to do our best in it.” Mata said.
Even though Mata has been playing volleyball for four years on a club team, this season has been a brand new experience for her.
“It was scary at first, being with older girls,” Mata said. “Now that we’ve started, it’s [become] really comfortable and they’ve made me feel really welcome. I like that I’m meeting new people, trying new things, doing it all in high school and being able to say that I’m part of the team.”
Reshatoff added that while being on the varsity team can be stressful sometimes, it is a good experience, especially with a tournament win under their belt.
“I thought that we would do really well in the tournament, but I didn’t expect to win every game,” Reshatoff said. “The team came in really close, and our communication was really loud and good so we worked really well together.”
The team celebrates their wins by singing in the bus on the way back, and this win gives them something to sing about, and more confidence for the rest of the season. Their next game is on Oct. 1, against El Camino High School.
“As long as we keep our communication up and work well together, I hope that we start winning a lot of our games.” Reshatoff said.
