As the serve flies over the net, freshman Arianna Lopez gets ready for a bump, set, and then she goes in for a kill. As the ball slams the ground, Lopez is surrounded by her teammates as she receives congratulations and as the crowd erupts into cheer. Lopez has just scored another point for the dominant Niles West girls varsity volleyball team.
Lopez is a fresh addition to the varsity team and is looking forward to creating bonds with her teammates. She has high hopes for the upcoming season.
“I think that this season is going to be an outstanding season,” Lopez said. “We all communicate on the court and I think we have a chance at getting first in the conference.”
Despite the fact that Lopez has high hopes for her upcoming season, transitioning into high school came along with some difficulties. Lopez is an alumna from Fairview South School, and admits that high school is extremely coming from a smaller school such as Fairview.
“High school is definitely a big change after coming from a small school like Fairview,” Lopez said. “It was hard at first and still is somewhat hard getting from class to class.”
Lopez believes that her accomplishment of making a varsity sport has made the change easier: she gained 13 new teammates and mentors both on and off the court. Lopez was not expecting to be pulled up to varsity; she came into tryouts calm and only hoping to do her best.
“I tried to stay as confident and calm as I could. I didn’t get pulled up to try out for varsity until the second day, but I was confident that I would do great during the tryouts,” Lopez admitted.
Lopez takes the same mentality going forth into her high school career. She is trying to stay confident and focus on her academic performance.
“Right now I’m not focused on making too many friends because I’m putting my academic work first,” she said.
Lopez’s talent and accomplishment has not gone unnoticed with freshman and boyfriend Kenji Murakami supporting her and motivating her everyday.
“The night before tryouts she was doubting herself and not believing in herself. I reminded her that she is capable of way more than she thinks and she just has to believe in herself. I’m incredibly proud of her and I’m so excited to see what she has to bring for the season,” Murakami said.
Along with the support of her friends and boyfriend, varsity coach Stacy Metoyer believes the team and Lopez have the chance at having a really good season.
“Arianna is a very good blocker, so my hope is that she continues to get better at hitting with power. The team has a lot of talent, and I feel like the team is capable of winning a lot of matches and finishing top 3 in conference. Arianna is blessed with height and is very mobile and quick. She will help challenge other people on the team,” Metoyer said.
As the season continues, there are high hopes for the varsity girls and Lopez. Stay on the lookout as this talented team pursues a successful season.
