The MacArthur boys volleyball team placed third at a tournament at Century High School on Saturday, February 1. It was a district-wide event to encourage students to participate in seasonal sports, this time being volleyball. The team went 3-1, winning games against Lathrop Intermediate, Mendez Fundamental Intermediate, and Santiago K-8 but losing to Raymond A. Villa Fundamental Intermediate.
“The tryouts were interesting as we had a whole array of people try out, which we really enjoyed. When people say they look for athleticism, you have to define athleticism: quick, explosive, easy to react, and adapts to situations. During our tryouts, what we looked for was the ability to serve and the ability to move to a volleyball and pass it, regardless of technique,” said the boy’s volleyball coach, Mr. Ron Cheser.
“During our scrimmages, we tried our best even though there was lots of wind during our McFadden game, 35 miles per hour to be exact. Against Esqueda, it was pretty hard since we did lose our second set but I feel like my team did really well during all these games, especially the tournament. We did lose against Villa even though we tried our best, and I’m happy that we still got third place because we had defeated Santiago,” said eighth-grader William N., one of the team captains
The team practiced every weekday from 2:30 to 4:00 PM but didn’t on Wednesdays as it was a modified day. Drills were incorporated into practices to gradually improve the skills of the MacArthur Boy’s Volleyball team. It allows them to spend more time learning and enhancing the skills they previously had that got them on the team in the first place.
Cheser said, “We only had four practices a week for an hour and a half with four hours touching a volleyball and the other half hours warming up, getting ready, and setting up. Over those 27 hours, they improved greatly in their passing, hitting, and setting skills. The team began to understand the concept of the game of volleyball to create opportunity, not just shoving the ball over the net. They totally improved.”
Seventh-grader Christopher P. said, “The things I enjoyed about volleyball was connecting and improving even if it was tiring during the practices. It was really fun and this was also my first year on the team, and I really enjoyed it. I will be joining next year if I can.”
Last year, the Macarthur Tigers hadn’t placed for the district-wide tournament. The team had improved this year by winning third place, getting bronze. This year’s volleyball season was an improvement from last year’s loss.