Category: Sports

By Francisca Pascua

Bam! Volleyball player Liana Annable smashed the ball to the ground, creating a loud thump. The other team retaliated. The varsity volleyball team had an intense match against Westmont this Monday but fell short on Senior Night at home with a score of 3-0.

With a current record of 3-10 in the league, PHHS Girls’ Volleyball struggled to win most of their games throughout the season.

In the third game, prior to the last home game, players went head to head with Branham, in which they suffered a 3-0 loss. The first set resulted in a score of 25-19, the second half the teams reached a score of 25-8 and the third set was 27-25. Despite the tragic loss, everyone remained optimistic and motivated.

“Our last game against Branham was probably the best game we played all season. Even though we lost, our team really came together and fought for every single point,” cheered senior Kaitlyn Seawright.

During the course of the season, the team lost one valuable setter from an ankle injury that may have altered the atmosphere of the games.

“I was a setter so it may have been difficult to adjust but we had two other setters that were able to play. So, maybe at the beginning it seemed different but overall I don’t think our team was affected,” claimed senior Emily Pereira.

The varsity team pondered about how to approach future games with a more positive demeanor.

“We could improve on staying positive even when the other team is doing well. We are just going to focus on having fun and working together as a team,” admitted Pereira as she reflected on what she has observed on performances.

Regardless of the multiple defeats, the players did not let this stop them from spiking back. They continued to prepare and work hard while keeping their minds concentrated on winning.

In their previous encounter with Prospect High school, PHHS Volleyball celebrated with a victorious triumph by leading 3 -2 .

“We prepared with another tournament over the weekend and just had pep talks. Our practices are usually [kind of] intense, but fun at the same time. Our team is really close and we pretty much make anything fun when we are together,” explained Seawright.

PHHS Varsity Volleyball Team are just one game away from ending their BVAL (Blossom Valley Athletics League) Season. With positive attitude, the volleyball team strives to win their final game at Evergreen Valley this Wednesday at 6 p.m. ◆

 

By Sarah Shafaeen

After a particularly challenging season, the PHHS Girls’ Tennis team has discovered that they did not qualify to compete in the CCS (Central Coast Section) due to placing fifth.

“California’s athletic activities are broken down into about 10 different sections, one of them being the Central Coast Section, or CCS. Every year, sports teams within the section train with the sole purpose of competing for a spot in the CCS playoffs. It’s very difficult to make it to the playoffs and essentially only the best of the best can participate,” informed senior Anna Tran.

The tennis team was having a challenging season with five wins and ten losses. Part of the challenge was the influx of new players and many of the star players graduating the previous year.

“It’s definitely been challenging. We had a lot of our seniors last year graduate and they were a major part of our varsity lineup,” said Captain Tiffany Nguyen.

Everyone from the captain to the newcomer were aware of the mental and physical effects of this tough season and were concerned about the capability of this years’ team to compete at its full capability and potential.

This is why it was an extremely difficult journey to compete for a spot in the CCS playoffs. The CCS is the governing body of public and private high school athletics in the portion of California encompassing everything from the San Mateo County to the Monterey County. Despite the tough circumstances, the team remained hopeful and continued to train for the playoffs.

“In years past, Piedmont Hills has been able to play in the CCS tournament, and although we have been having a difficult season so far, we hope to do so again this year,” stated Tran.

“I’m pretty proud of how much improvement we’ve managed to come by so far and how we’ve done against certain schools,” admitted Nguyen.

Many of the newcomers were confident in the team’s ability and reflect back on the season with fondness. They were determined to get into CCS despite their losses throughout the season.

“I like all the support every day during the practices and the games. It makes me feel good because we’re one big family,” asserted freshman Crystal Cheng.

The determining game last Thursday showed the team that their efforts paid off and motivated the new players to train harder for next year’s season. ◆

By Alana Valdez

Pirates are working their way back up to the top one scurvy dog at a time. Our most recent crusade was against the Mustangs and our Pirates fought well.

Piedmont Hills Pirates played Pioneer High School and their Mustangs on our home turf last Friday. JV and V both played great games. Jv won 28-19 and V won 49-41. With this win the Pirates JV is 5-3 and V is 4-4. Piedmont now have one last game left in the season before CCS playoffs.

“I think we are doing really good right now. It took us a second to get in the shape of things since we had a thin team, but all in all we are doing pretty good.” Varsity football player Xavier Martinez comments after the game.

It has been a long voyage for our Pirates. The beginning of the season was off to a rocky start. They started out with a shortage of players. Then most students did not want to sign up for football because they did not have the time, did not have high enough grades or just did not want to play anymore. With the players we do have the coaches can see the lack of interest and commitment.

“Commit to practicing better, there is a lot of goofing around and not taking football serious they are just going out there and going through the motions and not really following direction. If they decided to take it more serious they could be great.” Football coach Jessie mentions.

The team continues to struggle, “They are struggling to get in sink and it shows of the football field.” says Coach Jessie. But thanks to the help of our coaches the players are making progress. “They always encourage us to push our limits and to never quit during game time, they inspire us in and out of practice.” Varsity Player Ryan Devlin states. This is what makes them a great team.

“I feel like if we could keep the same intensity all game long we will make it to CCS and not letting teams get in our heads.” Xavier says and hopefully tonight’s game at Leland High will help us qualify for CCS. ◆

By Henry Zheng

In honor of the upcoming Midterm Elections on Tues., Nov. 6, various history teachers have conducted Mock Elections in their classrooms to give students a taste of voting and hopefully influence them to be more politically active.

Every year, California hosts a Mock Election just for students, in which the results of these votes are compared to the actual national votes. In a society where reform is advocated more than ever, these Mock Elections do much to help students voice their opinions and bring change to the world around them.

“I love that people protest and that there are petitions I can sign and that there are news programs that educate us but if we’re not going to the polling place and voting or sending our mail in ballot then we’re really not affecting change,” said American Government teacher Lynne Murray.

On the students’ side, many felt that the election was what they needed to initiate change and show that they too have valid opinions in politics.

“It was a good way to express how I feel about certain topics,” said senior Jason Damasco, who participated in the election.

A handful of other students also believed this was a way to demonstrate leadership and help lead this generation further into the complicated political world, as well as help prove to the older generation that they too are politically valid.

“I believe that we should stand against the changes we want to see happen and let (the) people see our generation as ‘do-ers’ instead of whiners,” said senior An Truong.

These Mock Elections did much more than just allowing students to be able to voice their opinions and be a part of change. It created voters that would be more politically devoted and aware of the world around, giving them confidence in their decisions.

“Vote because it really does matter,” said Jason

 

By Syed Rahim

In a match in the A Division Finals against Santa Teresa High School, the Piedmont Hills Pirates lost to the Saints in a nail-biting final game. March 23rd’s game marked the 22nd year of the annual event, originally started in 1995.
The district-wide tournament is held every year for Special Ed students. For students enrolled in these programs, the tournament aimed to help students socialize and build their self-esteem. Schools across three divisions were invited to participate and compete in the annual tournament.
“We decided that for our Special Ed kids in the East Side Union High School District, it’s really good to get them all together so that they can learn how to develop socially,” said Adaptive PE teacher Brandon Ward.
Mr. Ward is the original founder of the event, recognizing the need for sporting events that brought students together. Though Special Olympics were once held in place of the tournament, it proved to be more difficult logistically.
“There’re parameters in Special Olympics where the kids have to have a medical (exam), and a lot of our kids never got that done. Well they’re in our district, so if we just do it inside the district, we can include everybody,” explained Mr. Ward.
The A Division champion was Santa Teresa High School, while James Lick High School and Evergreen High School won B and C divisions, respectively.
The event was entirely volunteer-run. Members of the Piedmont Hills Basketball team volunteered to referee the games, and educators from each school’s Special Education staff showed up to support their players.
“Our coach let some of the basketball players help out,” said Point Guard Goose Persin. “It makes me happy to see that they’re happy.”
For the students involved, playing in the game provided a very positive experience. While many played to win, others just played to have fun. Regardless, the gym was filled with rallying cries, and the players left it all on the court.
“We’re just like a family when we play,” said senior Sylvia Tructa, who participated in March’s games.
“We’re just here to have fun and do the best we can to win.” exclaimed sophomore Andrew Fontell.
“It’s more about their self esteem, building their self-esteem, and bringing people together so that they can learn how to work together towards a common goal,” said Mr. Ward. “With the support of other Adaptive P.E. teachers, which are P.E. teachers that work with kids with disabilities whether it be physical or mental, let’s put this together and get all the teachers involved and see what we can do with it.” ♦

By Michelle Lin

Over halfway through its season, the Piedmont Hills Track and Field team finished its meet last Thursday at Pioneer High School. While girls’ track and field lost, the boys had won in their respective events.

“The girls’ team is smaller, making it harder to win as we don’t necessarily have enough competitors for each event,” comments sophomore Tim Wang. “But we do have a lot of talented runners in the girls’ team.”

Along with a new coach, the members have had new changes to their warm-ups to show other schools how close they all are as a team.

“We started doing this new thing where we do our warm-ups together,” explains senior Steven Nguyen. “At first, we used to do our own thing, but now, we do a lap or two around the track together, and then we go on the grass and go to a circle and do stretches.”

In hopes of someday making it to CCS (Central Coast Section), members have been training hard in their respective events, especially since no one from last year was able to advance further than the Finals.

“This year, we have a lot more people coming out, and we have a lot of runners that can really make it far,” admits captain Christina Vu. “We have more of a team mindset, where we’re all there for each other.”

Despite this team mindset, however, members struggle to maintain the same focus in practices as in games.

“Some challenges all of face is mentally,” says Vu. “We just need to be there, have the same intensity as during practice as when we compete.”

Students practice every day of the week, except on Thursdays, in which they have meets against other schools.

The team’s final meet of the season will be on Thurs., April 27 at Andrew Hill High School.

By Trevor Glassey

The Piedmont Hills Golf team lost its seven game win streak against the Branham Bruins, losing the first game at Santa Teresa on Mar. 27 and the follow up game at Spring Valley on Mar. 28.

“We tried our best,” stated junior Jessica Te. “But (the other team) was just really good.”

According to Te, their second best player senior Jasmit Singh was out of actions, and their top player Team Captain Justin Zeiska was playing with the the flu. To make things worse, the other team’s top four players were about as good as Zeiska.

“The team we played against might be the top of our league,” elaborated Te. “I think they might be moving up to A-League next year.”

Despite the setback, the team is still hopeful that they can win the championship. They hope the old saying of practice makes perfect will prove enough to get them through the championship.

“We practice a lot,” explained Singh calmly. “It really shows when we play.”

The team practices every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at San Jose Municipal Golf Course with coach Steve Smith. According to freshman Samuel Suniga, while the practice is relaxed, it helps them work on the different swings like putting, chipping, irons and drives.

“We need to go over practice,” mused Singh upon being asked what the team needs to improve. “We have to keep the coach’s tips in mind when playing because when we don’t, we start getting sloppy.”

These tips are important to learn as it can be quite difficult to become better at golf. While other sports allow heavy improvement with increasing physical ability through practice, golf has a common but pronounced problem.

“It’s all in technique,” revealed Te. “Practicing wrong all practice will lead to no improvement.”

Although their win streak is over, some in the golf team team still have high hopes for the potential of the golf team.

“We have a high motivation to get first,” expressed Zeiska. He hopes if the team works on golf in their own time, they can heavily improve and pull through into CCS.
Others are skeptical of their chances.

“(Winning the championship) has never happened before,” established Te. “But I’m not going to eliminate the possibility.”

Unlikely or not, motivation and hard work go a long way to making the impossible possible. The team hopes that with their efforts, it can overcome these challenges and bring home a trophy for the first time.

By Hannah Tong

The Varsity Softball team continued to swing through its season.

The team goal for this year is to maintain a winning record and to make it to CCS (Central Coast Section), advancing further than they did the year before.

As the season started, the team chemistry was not as strong as it could have been. Communication was one of their weaknesses with all the new faces and members on the team.

To improve the bonds between one another, the team played softball-related games the day after a good game. The games brought out the competitiveness of each teammate and further brought together the girls.

“The closeness of the team helps us on the field because we need to trust on another level to play as a team,” stated Cabanayan.

During practices, the team did a lot of basic drills. The drills included front hand, back hand and driving their hands through the ball. On the field, they did hand-eye drills and a lot of reps for grounders.

The team’s biggest competitor was against Silver Creek High School. They had aggressive hitters and a strong infield. The team hoped to shut them down with their strong defense, preventing them to score runs.

Some of the senior girls were looking forward to play in college. However, because high school softball does not really help players work towards those college careers, many of the girls played in an outside league, also known as travel ball, where college recruiters were more frequently scouting and spectating the players.

“I plan to play in college, whether that be at a JC (junior college) or at a 4-year,” stated Cabanayan.

Playing on an outside league helped the girls improve their game for school because they faced teams more competitive than that of the high school softball level. As these girls worked on more advanced skills, they brought it back to school to help the Piedmont Hills team altogether.

The current record of the team is 3-4 overall and 1-1 for league.

By Bernice Ou-yang

The PHHS Baseball team started their conditioning in January, held tryouts in February and began playing in early March.

“(The coaches) push us pretty hard, but sometimes they give us a little bit of a leeway,” said pitcher Daniel Bobias. “If they see that we are pushing really hard, they will give us a little break or cut down (on the conditioning) or they’ll give us a fun day.”

The team worked and trained hard everyday after school. Its goal is to win as many games as possible and to get to CCS (Central Coast Section).

“I think that (the coaches) are one of the main reasons that we are where we are now and they are why we are going to be successful later on,” mentioned outfielder Jose Renteria.

The coaches, Bill Kennedy and Alex Flores, started off the team’s training with some stretching and  throwing, then they would move on to practice defense drills and others.

“Since we lost five guys last year, I’m actually pretty proud of how we are doing this year,” admitted starting catcher Collins Mcevers. “(The training) is pretty difficult. It’s especially tougher for the people who don’t play often or just started playing not too long ago. We just have to be strong mentally and overcome all the obstacles together.”

The Varsity Baseball team lost the home game against Oak Grove High School this Wednesday, with the score of 5-3.

Both the Junior Varsity and the Varsity Baseball team have played about nine games so far and are feeling optimistic.

The Junior Varsity Baseball team’s current record is 3-5 overall and 2-1 for league. The Piedmont Hills Varsity Baseball team’s current record is 5-3 overall and 4-1 for league.

By Erica Xie

The PHHS Badminton team has been successful throughout the season so far with a score of 9-2.

In their recent game against Independence High School they scored 12-3.

The team won every game so far except against Evergreen Valley High School team, where they lost 8-7 and 9-6.

“Our team has been doing well against other schools, and my personal goal is to stay undefeated,” said Captain Anthony Qiu.

They still have a few games to play with the season ending in late April, but their opponents are tough.

“We’ve been making some mistakes recently and there are close games that should be easier,” explained Assistant Coach Van Pham. “We have a lot to improve on, but we have a couple of talented freshmen this year.”

The line up for each game is decided based on which school the team is playing next for the optimal chance at winning and helping players find opponents that challenge them.

“Every year, Evergreen, Leland and us fight for the top three places in League,” commented Coach Pham. “We want to get first place this year.”

The badminton team practices on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. JV is from 5pm to 7pm and Varsity is from 7pm-9pm.

“As a Captain I have to stay for the whole four hours, and I help the team on drills,” revealed Captain Nicky Nguyen.

Outside of games, the team is also planning to participate in tournaments at other schools, outside tournaments and individually compete in CCS (Central Coast Section).

“We recently had a Frosh/Soph tournament where freshmen and sophomores competed and our players scored pretty well,” said Nguyen. “And I hope to make it to CCS this year because I didn’t make it last year.”

On March 28, the team held an alumni game where previous graduates came back and played a game against the current varsity players.

“It was fun playing against the alumni” exclaims Varsity player Cindy Ke. “It was a close game. We lost 8-7.”

Senior Night for the team is this Friday as they play against Leigh High School, a game they expect to win.