|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Senior Jovana Carter missed her friends and teammates.
Like every other high school student, Carter had to resort to remote learning and staying at home during the COVID crisis.
The East Palo Alto resident attends Eastside College Prep, one of the few high schools which shut down its athletic programs for a full school year and that included girls volleyball.
“We were out so long we missed our junior year,” Carter said after Eastside Prep dropped a 25-8, 25-9, 25-8 match to Castilleja in West Bay Athletic League Skyline Division action Tuesday.
The girls volleyball team was the first to return to competition since the pandemic shut down schools in March of 2020. The school also sponsors a cross country team that has since competed.
“It means a lot to be back, just seeing people, being on a team,” Carter said. “Family is a big thing for us and working out and getting to practice together is great.”
Eastside Prep students don’t usually play club volleyball and the local Boys and Girls Club facilities were closed down, so there weren’t many opportunities to play.
When first-year coach Ali Karver (she’s in her fifth year as the school’s strength and conditioning coach) swung open the doors for the first day of practice, it was pure joy.
“They are happy just to be playing again,” Karver said. “Happy to be part of a team. Our goal is to get better over the course of the season, end of story. It’s fun for them to learn how to be a team, how to lean on each other.”
There was never any doubt about Tuesday’s outcome. Castilleja has been building its program. With a team full of experienced seniors and club players, the Gators can dream large.
This past weekend, Castilleja won the MVLA tournament, co-hosted by SCVAL De Anza Division schools Mountain View and Los Altos. The Gators (13-4, 1-0) own a six-match winning streak heading into Friday’s home league contest against Crystal Springs Uplands.
Senior Riley Carolan, junior Lila Morrill and Araika Ramchandran each contributed to Castilleja’s third-set win over the Pathers.
For Eastside Prep (1-3, 0-2), which hosts Priory next Tuesday, Carter was joined by Ashley Vargas, Ashley Barriga, Gio Cruz and libero Yesi Machorro, among others, who played well at times.
Things are getting much better in East Palo Alto and Carter credits people like her mother, Jovanna, and Mayor Regina Wallace-Jones, both of whom were raised in East Palo Alto.
“My mom told us stories about growing up here and I appreciate life more because of her,” Carver said. “We have a great mayor. I’ve met her a couple of times and she gives us hope.”
-
Daisy Villanueva, a first year student, studies at a table in Hubert H. Semans Library at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills on Sept. 22, 2021. Photo by Magali Gauthier. -
Students in a lecture hall at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills on Sept. 22, 2021. Photo by Magali Gauthier. -
Microbiology professor Amy Edwards walks around her classroom while students conduct experiments at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills on Sept. 22, 2021. Photo by Magali Gauthier.
