Cheers filled the air in the gym during the Peach Fuzz volleyball tournament when the seniors defeated the junior and faculty teams and ultimately won the whole tournament.
Peach Fuzz is an annual showdown between male athletes and faculty members who do not normally have the opportunity to participate in volleyball.
“I’ve always liked volleyball, it’s always been a fun sport for me,” senior Kevin Huynh said.
The Peach Fuzz tournament started off with a game between a team of juniors and a team of seniors. The junior team consisted of only seven players. Their coaches were Anica Lind, Jessica Roop, and Valeria Salinas.
The senior team consisted of ten players with coaches Iris Arrazola, Katie Garrish, and Maddie McCrossin. The first game was a sweet victory for the seniors with a score of 15-11.
“I think we lost against the seniors because we just lacked togetherness and communication skills unlike the seniors who seemed to work really well together,” junior Elliot Alwes said.
The second game didn’t turn out great for the juniors either making it their second loss.
“I do indeed plan on participating in the Peach Fuzz tournament again next year, but this time I plan to use my length and stay closer to the net. Team wise I hope to communicate better and beat out the bad habits like hitting the ball with ours fists and touching the net,” Alwes said
By this point, the juniors were eliminated from the tournament, while the seniors advanced to the next set of games.
It is not unusual for the seniors to prevail over the juniors. “I feel pretty good about winning this round being that I lost last year as a junior,” said Huynh.
Faculty members of the school also participated in the game.
The faculty team consisted of six teachers and coaches and the referee was a counselor, Ms. Hess.
The seniors won the first game against the teachers, 15-9. “I’m competitive, so that side of me is hurting, but it’s never a bad thing to lose to a good group of kids who put in a decent effort,” faculty player, Coach Sweet said.
In the second game, the faculty triumphed pulling off a score of 15-3. “Our strategy was to basically try not to play harder, but instead play smarter and place it [the ball] where they [the seniors] weren’t, but we forgot they were faster and younger,” said Sweet.
In the final game of the tournament, the seniors took the win, 7-4, almosted undefeated. “I didn’t really expect to win against the faculty, it was actually a really close win” Huynh said. “I think we [the seniors] worked very well as a team, because most of the players have been friends for a few years, since elementary or middle school so our relationships were good with each other which most likely helped with our teamwork.”
In the end, the seniors were victorious and crowned the champions of the 2017 Peach Fuzz volleyball tournament.
Overall, the Peach Fuzz tournament was a great way for students and faculty to interact in a friendly but competetive environment. It was also entertaining for the audience to see boys play in a usually female dominated sport.