Navya Parvathaneni
Senior Navya Parvathaneni began playing basketball with her older brother on her elementary school’s courts. Soon after, in middle school, she began playing for a local league called Cupertino Hoops, an experience that set the foundation for her involvement in basketball as she grew older. Although she didn’t make her eighth-grade school team, this setback only motivated her to practice harder and refine her skills, leading her to land a spot on the MVHS Junior Varsity Girls Basketball team her freshman year. Parvathaneni’s main motivation for pursuing basketball in high school was to find a community.
”I just did a bunch of stuff to find a place that I liked,” Parvathaneni said. “I did cross country and I liked the community that came with it, but I didn’t have the time to do both cross country and basketball. I picked basketball. I thought it/the sport was the most fun and tight-knit sport for me.”
As the only senior on the varsity team this year, Parvathaneni shares how she was initially sad to see so many of her former teammates, last year’s seniors, leave. With less stress about academics her senior year, she was able to commit more of her time and fully enjoy her last season. Girls Varsity Basketball Coach and English teacher Sara Borelli was instrumental to Parvathaneni’s high school experience, propelling her to expand her abilities and work better with the team. Now, as Parvathaneni goes off to college, she hopes to continue to play basketball intramurally so she can have fun with the sport, acknowledging how playing for a college or club is a significant commitment.
“I learned a lot of discipline,” Parvathaneni said. “If I played any other sport I wouldn’t be as disciplined because Borelli really pushed us to be on time, to put our all into it. She’s always said, ‘be a necessity not an accessory, to be someone the team needs, not just someone on the team.’”
Sara Lele
Although senior Sara Lele ended up on the water polo team all four years of high school, she initially thought her mother was signing her up for synchronized swimming. She was in eighth grade when she arrived at the class, and was shocked and confused to see people moving around with a ball. Regardless, combining swimming with other skills in a team sport sparked her interest and she began regularly attending classes. She says she was drawn to water polo because she found it more fun being a collaborative sport.
“My favorite moment was making my first goal freshman year because my whole team was celebrating,” Lele said. “My last goal was also amazing because we were behind during that game and it gave us a chance to turn the game around.”
Although Lele looks back at her experience with water polo fondly, playing the sport left her with little free time on her hands. Despite restrictions, she acknowledges that it taught her to study around her schedule, because her time during the season was largely consumed by practices and games. As she heads off to college, Lele plans to focus more on her academics, but is open to being involved with water polo recreationally.
“I had to learn how to manage my time effectively,” Lele said. “Walk into my house, start studying and not just slack off after practice. Having friends on the team, I was able to connect with them and we were able to support each other academically as well.”
Jocelyn Zou
Senior Jocelyn Zou has been playing volleyball since the sixth grade, on both school and club teams. Her elementary school summer camp experience playing volleyball made Zou curious enough to try out for her school team. Being part of both a club and school team keeps Zou on the court year-round and ensures that she constantly works to improve her skills.
“Club volleyball was definitely more competitive and we would travel to go to tournaments,” Zou said. “But in school volleyball our team was a lot closer, because we would often have class together and practice everyday.”
In Zou’s experience, club volleyball helped her refine and improve her skills, which she could then showcase on the school team. Even with volleyball occupying her time all year-round, balancing volleyball with academics hasn’t been a struggle for her. Zou looks back at the moments she got to bond with her team outside of games and practices fondly.
“Some of my favorite moments include traveling with my team last year,” Zou said. “We got the opportunity to go to Southern California to play in state championships, which was really cool. Just being able to be there on such a big stage, being able to go to Irvine Spectrum and hang out was really fun.
