Went down to Anzar High on Monday to talk to the captains—sophomore Katia Dizon and seniors Emily Papenhausen and Karena Campos—of the volleyball team.
The Hawks had an atypical 2013 season, finishing 1-16 overall and 1-10 in Mission Trail Athletic League play, failing to make the Central Coast Section playoffs for just the third time in the last 13 years.
The combination of injuries and only two returning starters resulted in a down year for the Hawks, who have enjoyed tremendous success over the years.
As expected, spirits are high once again around the team; in addition to an upgrade in talent, most of Anzar’s players played in the summer on Fault Line, a club team coached by Hawks coach Tom Schatz.
“Most of the girls have club experience, so I think this group has more chemistry and will know how to work together better,” Papenhausen said. “Last year was a rebuilding year, but all the girls worked hard, and that’s all that matters.”
Indeed, the Anzar players were truly at peace despite finishing with just one victory, knowing they had played with a competitiveness befitting of a champion.
“At the end of the day, it all worked out well because we had to be tougher mentally to finish the year,” Campos said.
Indeed, it’s often said that a team’s character is revealed more through adversity than in success, and no where was that more true than in the Hawks’ 2013 season. They’re going to use last season as a building block to catapult themselves to another playoff run.
“(Assistant coach Chris) Wardlaw has a saying that volleyball is our church, and we treat each other like sisters,” Campos said. “We try to make it where the team is drama-free, which is huge since we’re all girls playing the same sport.”
