VARSITY GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
The Varsity Girls Volleyball team is looking to maintain the high bar it set last season, winning the NorCal Championship and second place at the State Championship in Orange County. With the team’s current preseason record of 9-2, junior and setter Kylee Mark applauds the team for its positive energy thus far, noting the scrappiness of their team. However, she hopes the team continues to improve its skill set moving forward.
“In terms of skill, I’d say we’re not as strong,” Mark said. “I still feel that we’re a strong team, but definitely not as strong as we were last year. But chemistry-wise, our team is a lot smaller this year compared to last year, so we’ve been able to bond more and get closer to everyone.”
Senior setter Chloe Chen adds that even though the team lost three crucial senior starters last season, she believes that the team’s skill can be improved faster due to the smaller roster.
“We lost a lot of key players last year, so this year we’re trying to figure out new rotations and lineups,” Chen said. “But since we have a smaller team this year, it’s a lot better because we’re able to get more reps at practice.”
Mark also adds that although the team will face tough competition this season, she believes there has been a lot of individual improvement since the previous year. As a result, she believes that as long as they adjust their game plan based on the team and are adaptive during the games, they will find success this season.
“I’m really looking forward to this year,” Mark said. “I know that if we work together, we can do well this season.”
GIRLS WATER POLO
Varsity Girls Water Polo has been experiencing major changes this season, such as the merge of the Varsity and JV teams and the introduction of a new coach, William Lieu. Senior and captain Ria Sethi is excited about the new team environment.
“Our new coach is excellent, and he’s really passionate about water polo,” Sethi said. “He is always there early during practice, and he’s very motivating. He’s definitely a coach that a lot of people look forward to talking to.”
Lieu has previously been a coach for MVHS Varsity Swim in 2022, the Milpitas High School Girls Water Polo team and volunteered last year for MVHS Varsity Girls Water Polo team. He believes the combination of the Varsity and JV teams, which happened due to smaller team size, poses a challenge because JV is traditionally for newcomers and players with lower experience levels, whereas Varsity is for competitive league play.
“It’s a little bit of heightened pressure, because we want to be placing in our league standings,” Lieu said. “But it’s not something that I cannot work around. I’m an all-around coach, so I can work with athletes with different skill levels. It just poses a difficulty due to the fact that I can’t coach the higher-level players in Varsity and then work with lower-level players who are part of JV.”
Sethi is excited to lead a larger-than-usual team through games. She’s proud of the team performing better than expected against Lynbrook High School, which has moved down from the A-league De Anza league, making them the best in MVHS’ El Camino league. She specifically notes the team’s high levels of effort and emphasis on communication. Going forward, she hopes to improve team motivation.
“There’s been a challenge that has been going on for the past couple of years, that if we do end up on the losing side, a lot of the team becomes demotivated,” Sethi said. “We’re really trying to work on making sure that the motivation in our team is still there by telling others that they’re doing well, and that even if we aren’t doing well, we should still try our best and still be there for our teammates. I think that really helps.”
Sethi pointed out that the team has been doing stamina drills and working on athlete confidence. To improve the team’s performance, Lieu is emphasizing the fundamental aspects of water polo, such as treading water, shooting, stamina and other potential areas of growth.
“When it comes to any sport, basics are always something that we need to always rely on because the basics support the sport,” Lieu said. “We’ve gone back to basics and we’ve done a little bit of advanced skills. Every player has their own skill level, so we work on whatever needs to be worked on.”
Through his previous volunteer coaching experience last year with the team, Lieu saw the athletes’ strength and commitment. He foresees a strong season and predicts that the team will win several games due to its tenacity and willingness to learn.
“What makes a good player?” Lieu said. “To me, it’s just communication, leadership, willingness to show up, willingness to work and willingness to ask the hard questions about their performance.”
FIELD HOCKEY
Senior and goalkeeper Lauren Hong woke up early in the morning, frantically coordinating with the rest of the Girls’ Field Hockey team. She gathered gifts, collected Starbucks orders and relayed messages from the coaches, all in preparation for field hockey’s annual senior night.
As a team captain, Hong ensured that it was not only a heartfelt send-off for the seniors but a memorable event for the rest of the team. She says that this year, the absence of the graduated seniors is felt in more than just the change in leadership, but in the core team structure as well. Her job as a team captain changed drastically coming into senior year as now she had to take a more active role in the team’s positioning coming into games.
“The class of 2025 seniors were especially strong,” Hong said. “The fact that they’re not here anymore made it really hard to adapt to. We’ve had to put a lot of people in new positions because of that. We’re used to playing the same teams over and over again, so this is gonna be interesting to see how this season plays out for us.”
Hong acknowledges that the recruitment of new players is becoming increasingly harder for the team due to the lack of feeder programs coming from nearby middle schools. However, Head Coach Amelia de Leon sees potential for a better upcoming season based on the last couple of pre-season games.
De Leon notices a significant decrease in players making their varsity debut from last year, down from nine to five. She says the players she picked for varsity this year are more experienced and can therefore lead the newer players during games in the coming season.
“It’s remarkable that in this year’s first pre-season games,” Leon said. “You wouldn’t be able to pick the players out that are new to varsity, which was not true unlike last year. At a varsity level, the players look not just at their skill level, but also at their mental composure.”
Hong says that the reasons for that composure lie in the high amount of trust each player has in each other on the team. While it is tradition to have an annual team dinner to facilitate cohesion, Hong wants to increase the amount of non-field hockey-related activities, such as group painting sessions, to continue building shared trust among players on and off the field.
“Team chemistry really guides our teamwork,” Hong said. “If you realize that you have good people behind your back — good people to support you — you’ll think better of your own play and how the rest of the game is gonna go. So as a team captain, I’m trying to make sure that everyone trusts each other and relies on each other.”
VARSITY GIRLS TENNIS
After winning the Tennis Girls Doubles CCS Championship last season, junior and captain Yinuo Tian has high hopes for the Varsity Girls Tennis team this year. The previous year, the team was well rounded, with eight upperclassmen, however, this year, there are only five upperclassmen and six freshmen.
As the team heads to its next tournament on Sept. 20 in Santa Barbara, Tian has been noticing a consistent trend in all of their practices thus far: the energy. With what is, according to Tian, the best freshmen class the MVHS team has had in years, practices have been loud and eventful, with a focus on strengthening the chemistry between the paired doubles through volleys.
“They have the most insane energy ever,” Tian said. “I think that’s what’s going to make this year. The league matches haven’t even started, and I’m going mad because all the freshmen are actually so loud. But that’s what I like about the team.”
As for the scheduled matches later in the season, senior and captain Lelani Laruelle is looking forward to the rivalry game against Menlo School. After losing the Menlo Cup by a single match the previous year, the team is looking forward to bouncing back and competing, not only in the tournament, but also likely in the CCS playoffs.
“There’s always a lot of hype surrounding that game,” Laruelle said. “Our matches are always close, and we have been going back and forth the past few years. I’m looking forward to CCS and seeing how we compete with them and other teams.”
As captains, Laruelle and Tian are eager to guide their younger team and see where the season takes them. As for Tian specifically, she notes how this season will be a big change for her in terms of leadership.
“I think the biggest difference would be that as a junior now, I have to be thinking about responsibilities that I have to face this year and start thinking about next year too,” Tian said. “I just have to be more responsible, not just being a member of the team, but also having to be responsible for the team.”
