From bottom to top left to right: Grant Vu, Phian Vo, Chris Rivera, Noah Peralta, Nam Le, Adam Menendez, Kurt Mateo, John Luong, Caden Oliver, Justin Foreman, Dimitri Downs, and Idean Tavassol.
Whether they’ve been playing on varsity for the first or third time, the varsity boys all had very similar answers. Senior Justin Foreman, one of the Mustangs’ captains, said, “It’s pretty cool, I feel like every person on this team worked hard to be where they are, and it’s cool to see us all play together.”
Sophomore Caden Oliver said that playing on varsity is a great feeling because he loves how competitive and fast-paced it is, as well as how hyped the varsity team is and how much they love to play. Senior Idean Tavassol said that it gives a sense of achievement to play on varsity.
If you were to ask any athlete if their sport was important to them, they’d say of course and explain why. Senior captain Chris Rivera said that volleyball is important to him because since middle school, he’s always had the most fun playing volleyball and in middle school, it was the first time he felt what a real team feels like.
Junior Kurt Mateo said that volleyball is important to him because through this, he learned the importance of teamwork, communication, and supporting each other to achieve common goals. And Junior John Luong says that volleyball is important to him because it’s a sport that he enjoys, and it’s used to get his mind off the day.
Junior Grant Vu said, “Volleyball is important to me because it’s the one sport that really struck my interest and made me want to keep on playing.” Then he continues by saying that volleyball allowed him to step out more of his comfort zone, and he made good friends along the way.
All volleyball players have their reasons as to why they play volleyball, and usually it could be because of family tradition, or maybe they want to try something new. Senior captain Chris Rivera said, “I play volleyball because the sport not only teaches you physically, but challenges myself mentally to adapt to different situations.”
Senior captain Justin Foreman, junior setter Adam Menendez, and sophomore Caden Oliver all play volleyball because either their brothers, cousins, or just relatives inspired them to play volleyball, and it just stuck with them ever since.
Juniors Noah Peralta, Kurt Mateo, and John Luong said that they play volleyball because it’s fun, or they get to play with their friends.
For many athletes, their jersey number is special to them, and they chose that number because of either a personal reason, it reminds them of a family member, or a famous athlete has the same number.
Senior Idean Tavassol had #10 in basketball and continued with it. Senior captain Justin Foreman chose #12 because when he played basketball freshman and sophomore year, and he felt like going back to that time. Originally, he picked #12 because his dad’s birthday is on the 12th.
Senior Nam Le chose #5 because it’s Kevin Garnett’s, a famous basketball player, number. Senior captain Chris Rivera chose #6 because during his freshman year on the football team, the first person he looked up to was Michael Pitman Jr. Pitman wore #6 when he was playing during college, and he was a great role model to Chris Rivera.
Juniors Adam Menendez #3, Kurt Mateo #1, and Grant Vu #7 all chose their numbers either because that number stood out to them, and it looks good on a jersey.
Junior Noah Peralta had #9 since freshman year. Junior John Luong chose #8 because it was the last number left. Juniors Phian Vo #2 and Dimitri Downs #4 said their number doesn’t mean anything special.
Sophomore Caden Oliver didn’t have any special reason to choose #11.
The varsity boys may be diverse and have different views on volleyball, but their love and compassionate for it is all the same.
