After winning a league championship in 2019, the girls’ volleyball team didn’t even get a chance to get on the court last year thanks to Covid-19. Senior Aryana Portela said, “Because of last year I feel like a lot of us really missed the sport and this year we are just expecting so much more, we want to win more, we want to be more aggressive, we want to get more points, just because of the fact that we missed so many months of volleyball.”

Coach Jose M. Ramos, the varsity coach, hasn’t been able to be on the court consistently because of his military obligation, so the J.V coach Jose R. Ramos, also known as Coach Chep, is taking charge of the varsity team for now. Chep is doing a great job with the team based on the preseason games that have been going on, you could see that the team has gotten better on working together and have improved on their passing, hitting and blocking. Senior Jessica Vargas said,  “He brings something new everyday, he  has his own book with certain drills on how to make us better in certain areas we need to work on in general, he just brings fresh new areas that make our practices better and more useful.”

Having strong returning players has helped, especially with seniors Aryana Valle Portela, Francy Valle Portela, Jessica Vargas, Jackie Rangel, Kimberly Angulo, and Ana Trujillo; and junior Larissa Vasquez. Francy Valle Portela said, “I feel very excited to come back to volleyball knowing that a volleyball season was taken away from us because of covid and that gives us a reason for trying harder to represent Alisal.” 

The team started strong, going 5-0 in the pre-season. Aryana Valle Portela said it was very exciting winning the preseason games and that they are aiming to make it to the playoffs by working together and getting better at their weaknesses.

The team continued their hot start by winning their first two league matches before going 2-4 to be 4-4 through eight contests. Despite the losses, the team remained upbeat thanks to the bonds they’ve forged over the years. “It’s definitely been our close relationship because a lot of us are familiar with playing with each other. We know each of our responsibilities as players, everyone is super supportive of each other and we uplift each other throughout every play,” said Francy Valle Portela.