The Matadors win first place in co-ed and women’s bracket in annual FUHSD staff dodgeball tournament
In the famous words of dodgeball coach Patches O’Houlihan from the movie, "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story": "If you’re going to become true dodgeballers, then you’ve got to learn the five d’s of dodgeball: dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge!"
And that is exactly what the MVHS staff did at the FUHSD annual staff dodge ball tournament held on March 11 to help fund raise for Haiti. The gym was divided so that each school had its own cheering section on the bleachers. The Matador crowd overwhelmed the Lynbrook gym with purple and gold bodies as the MVHS student cheering section was the largest and the most exuberant.
“It’s just fun to get the students out here and cheer us on, makes us feel good as teachers,” Social Studies teacher Nick Bonacorsi said. “Even if most of them are just here for extra credit.”
The first match that the Matador staff played was the 40 and older bracket against Homestead. Despite multiple kills from math teacher Colin Anderson, the Matadors could not outlast the Mustangs and lost the first game. In the second game, the tables turned for the elderly ones as PE teacher Ron Freeman and registrar Pat Kruse managed to dodge the pelting balls and stay in the game, winning the second game for the purple and gold. The third game called for a sudden death match between four Matadors against four Mustangs —three men and one woman on each side — and ended with a dramatic finish as math teacher Scott DeRuiter pegged the opponent. The 40 plus team defeated the Mustangs 2-1 and moved on to the championship match. However, they could not pull out a victory against the Lynbrook Vikings and lost the game 2-0.
“I thought it was going to be boring at first, but the games quickly got more and more intense and it was fun supporting and cheering on for your teachers,” junior Christine Yoo said.
The next match was the co-ed bracket against the Cupertino Pioneers. Math teacher Brian Dong and Dean of Students Michael Hicks led the Matadors to two clean and quick victories with their strong, relentless hits.
The crowd cheered “Domination” after this outright win, intimidating the other crowds to a near silence. The next match against Homestead was no different. With Dong and Bonacorsi leading the team, the Matadors won another easy match, this time against the Mustangs, and took home the co-ed championship for the third year in a row.
Now it was time for the Lady Matadors to shine in their first match in the women’s bracket against Lynbrook. A clutch catch by literature teacher Diana Combs allowed the women to win their first game, and PE teacher Sarah Jensen led the team to victory in the second game, with her accurate pegs, defeating the Vikings 2-0. The next match against Homestead gave the Lady Mats a scare, but was eventually victorious by the game-winning catch by Social Studies teacher Bonnie Belshe.
In the final match against the District Office, the Lady Mats came out with a painfully slow start, and lost the first game. Dissatisfied with this lost, they quickly rebounded and took the next two games, winning the women’s bracket championship match.
The men’s bracket came out short in the championships despite the confidence the men had in winning. They breezed through the competition in the first and second matches against Cupertino and Fremont. However, in the final match versus Homestead, the Matadors came out with a weak beginning and lost the first game.
In the second game, the Matadors were much more aggressive with their kills, as they aimed and shot from all over the place, and managed to win the second game. In the final game, Bonacorsi had a sweet kill-catch combo that tied the teams with three players left on each side.
However, near the end, the Mustangs were able to pick off one of the Matadors and outlasted the Matadors with their extra person. The annual inter-district dodgeball tournament ended with the Homestead Mustangs as the men’s champions.
