Junior Cmelak furthers his passion for volleyball
The CVHS boys varsity volleyball Trojans’ tournament matchup with Foothill’s Falcons on April 16 saw the same fierceness from junior Alexander Cmelak as seen in their previous game in February. Although losing the first set, Cmelak continued supporting his team to his fullest as the Trojan’s outside hitter, both blocking the opponents and contributing points through unstoppable attacks. As one sided as it appeared, Cmelak never let up on trying to save the team against the Falcons’ aggression.
As far as his efforts brought his team, Cmelak and the Trojans ended up losing two sets in a row, bringing the game to a closure with a defeat of 0-2. This loss set the Trojans back another step behind the Falcons, having lost to them once previously in February.
Although these losses accumulated by the Trojans during the tournament were unwanted, they did not take away from the viewing experience of the team’s games and Cmelak’s accomplishments during them.
“I feel like the loss didn’t really matter to me that much. Alexander showed people the real potential of the team,” said spectator and freshman Yusef Scott.
Cmelak proved to the other team that, victory or not, defeating the Trojans would not be easy as he did not give up the fight.
Cmelak’s enjoyment in volleyball began back in middle school where he first tried out for the school’s team and started practicing more often. Wearing jersey number 9, Cmelak has continued his training in volleyball over the years, now playing for the CVHS varsity boys team. As much as he has contributed to his team so far, Cmelak wishes to further himself in practicing volleyball to support the other players.
“I’m not sure where it’ll take me in the future, but I just know I want to keep playing for the team,” said Cmelak.
Many of the Trojans’ players and spectators often refer to Cmelak as the team’s MVP, as players like Daylen Berio and Nathan Yee stated he did the overall most in terms of both offense and defense for the team.
“Xander was just one of the most driven and outgoing players out there. No doubt he was at the top,” spoke Berio.
Cmelak has shown his team and the school what it means to be the best, and he still hopes to continue improving his volleyball abilities.
Way to go Xander and Trojans. Always fun to watch you play volleyball.
It really shows great school spirit and community when we don’t let games that end like this get us down and to have students like Alexander Cmelak out there who don’t give up, is really awesome. I, myself, didn;t see the game but now I’m kinda sad I missed it even if it did end with a lot because I think it would have been really encouraging to see someone or the team fight so hard doing what they liked. It’s wonderful how Cmelak took this as a learning experience and is now trying to better himself to better help his team. I’m sure that he will end up as an even better player in the future then he is right now and in senior year, if he still decides to play which is what it looks like, then he may be unstoppable. This teamspirit has made me wanna try and watch a game or two.