It’s a sport played by two teams, often with six players on each side, using their hands to hit the ball back and forth and over the net. Do you know what sport it is? It’s Volleyball! The Boys Volleyball team earned second place at Valley Highschool on January 29. 

Due to the pandemic, last year was entirely distance learning in the Santa Ana Unified School District, leaving sports and other physical activities behind. “I think I was really excited because we were off for two years,” said P.E. teacher Mr. Tim Fredricksen, who was one of the volleyball coaches.

The Macarthur Boys Volleyball team went against Carr Intermediate, Villa Fundamental Intermediate, Esqueda K-8, and ALA, Advance Learning Academy. The team defeated Carr, Villa and A.L.A. before the final match against Esqueda.  The boys team lost that match and placed second because, according to Fredericksen, the serves “weren’t as good” for MacArthur as they were in the earlier matches.

“I feel like the game was fun, I get to have more ways to connect with my friends.  My favorite thing was getting good dumps on people,” said eighth-grader Ethan V. 

At practice, the team routine would include waking up early in the morning to get to school by 6:30 AM, doing 10-minute warm-ups, and then start practicing drills and rotations. Some drills that were practiced included serves, passes, etc.  As the next practice arrived, they would all over again. Although many would rather not wake up before 6:30, the preparation all played out for the boys volleyball team since they placed second place in the tournament.

Fredricksen said, “There were a couple of good rallies. eighth-grader Ryan T. served five points and got us back into the game.” Because the team was down by six points, Ryan was able to gain five points for the team, making it possible for them to catch up. Fredricksen also added, “Vinson H. also had some very good plays.”

“I think we faced the final team in the finals very well.  I thought they did amazing,” said Fredricksen. 

The second-place finish is a significant improvement to sixth place, which is where the boys finished at the last tournament in February 2020, prior to the pandemic.