Six volleyball girls committed to college, even with a losing season

Kamm Kojima

Senior #7, Alyssa Muraoka servers the ball during her senior game. Muraoka was one of six athletes committed playing on the starting team for girls volleyball.

Steven Aspera, Staff Writer
May 20, 2021

Even with a losing season, Mid-Pacific’s girls varsity volleyball team held strong with six of their nine seniors committed to play in college.

Six of the nine seniors will continue their volleyball careers across the nation and compete at all levels. Two players will compete in NCAA DI, one will play in D2, two will participate in D3 and one will play in NJCAA. 

“I had the option to play division three or division one, but I decided to play in division three because I wanted to focus on my academics,” said Luna Suzuki, senior volleyball player who committed to New York University.

The girls varsity volleyball record is all losses and no wins or draws. However, each game had close scores and were very tight matches, players said. 

“We can do better, it’s just that we haven’t played in a long time,” said Keiki Pua’a, a junior girls varsity volleyball player.

Volleyball season is usually in the Fall, but it was postponed this year due to COVID. Other players believe they didn’t have enough time to build their chemistry among each other.

“I think we are all doing pretty good, we have each other’s backs, but I think we could have worked harder and trained harder,” said Suzuki.

Girls Varsity of six committed seniors played their senior game on April 25. Emotions arose after the seniors last set ended. (Kamm kojima)

Along with these college commitments, OC-16 sports televised a game against Iolani on March 30.

With such a big senior class, the Owls will have a young team next year, who also have to adapt to a new coach. The varsity coach resigned at the end of this season.

“I have a lot of faith in our underclassmen. They really do push us and challenge us upperclassmen in practices and in games.” Miguel said.

Their last game was on April 26 against Le Jardin where the owls battled in a 3-set thriller against the Bulldogs, only to lose in the last set 26-28. However, during that game, there was a mixup in the lineup costing the owls six points.

The seniors said they were frustrated with the outcome and miscommunication throughout the match. However, they are excited to begin their college careers.  

“Even though our record didn’t reflect it, we had a great season. The ending was so bittersweet,” said senior player Erin Goya.