58 NOVEMBER 2019 By Rachael Bouley Fourteen student teams hit the gym for an afternoon of fun during a dodgeball tournament at Veritas Preparatory Academy put on by The Falcon Club, a new parent-led organization that supports the school’s athletics and performing arts programs. Veritas parent and founding Falcon Club member Meg Seoane and her husband Steve created the tournament as a way to bring students and faculty together in play. “We love the school so much and we thought this would be a great community event for Falcon Club to start the school year off on a fun note,” Seoane said. Students recruited their own teams of five of their peers from 6th-12th grades. Each team also recruited a Veritas faculty member as a bonus teammate, serving as a sixth player. The single elimination tournament had two brackets, one for teams with players in 6th and 7th grades and the other for players in 8th grade and higher. The Veritas Athletic Department helped design an easy-to-play tournament, with the winner in each bracket playing against each other to decide the championship. Clare Van Brunt’s “Rainbow Siege” team won the 6th- 7th grade bracket and went head to head against the 8th and up bracket champions, Daniel Grimm’s “Captain Grimm.” Captain Grimm went on to win the tournament, earning the inaugural Champion of Champions title and a bedazzled golden dodgeball made by Veritas senior Annika Seoane. By all accounts, the tournament was a success with many students already looking forward to the next one. Other prizes included a giant bag of candy for the best costume, awarded to Meredith Flower’s team of 7th grade girls “Good Girls Gone Rad,” who were dressed head- to-toe in rainbows. The runners-up on Rainbow Siege received Zoyo gift certificates and the champions on Captain Grimm took home Dutch Brothers gift cards. Seoane says the entire school community came out to support the event. “Honestly the biggest surprise was how simple it was to run for the first time ever. We had so much help from our amazing faculty and dedicated parents,” Seoane said. “The best part for me was watching the tournament unfold. It was awesome to see the teams compete with a crowd full of students, families and faculty all going wild cheering for them.” With more than 250 people in attendance, there were spectators rooting for their favorite team and plenty of competitors ready to duck and dodge. The Falcon Club has already received requests for another tournament, the club is planning on making this new tradition bigger and more fun. “We will consider how to expand it for more teams and offer a double elimination format next time so the kids have more opportunities to play,” Seoane said. “The joy of the tournament was the bonding experience it created across students and faculty. There’s nothing like a chance to have simple fun to bring people together.” Inaugural dodgeball tournament at Veritas Preparatory The first-ever Falcon Club dodgeball event was well-supported by the Veritas Prep community and students are already eagerly awaiting the next dodgeball event. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FALCON CLUB By Jennifer Marshall Arcadia High School’s three girls’ volleyball teams have a combined record 38-4 (at press time), dominating play at all levels this season and positioning the program for success for years to come. The varsity team is poised to make a post season run, hopefully ending with a state championship. The playoffs begin on November 5. The state championship game is on November 13. “This season we’ve had one of the best starts that we’ve had in a long time,” said Head Coach Jackie Bunker. “I think one of the things that makes a big difference in our team is that we have so many returning players this year. Of the 14 girls on our team, only two didn’t play on varsity last year.” In fact, the team’s only losses were to Chaparral High School and Seton Catholic Prep, which also boast strong teams and look to figure into the post-season scenario. Going forward, Bunker is focused on keeping her team’s confidence high. “We have so much talent, and we have the skills,” Bunker said. “But when you have an excellent record, maintaining that confidence is important.” The varsity team’s success under Bunker can also be traced to Arcadia’s JV and freshman/sophomore volleyball teams. Although these two squads don’t have a post-season tournament to participate in, they each have records of 13-1, with their only losses coming to Chaparral. The strength of the varsity team, which is almost entirely seniors, means the JV team is stocked with a talented roster of girls from ninth through 11th grades. “We have freshmen, sophomores and juniors playing on our JV team,” Bunker said. “Because we have so many seniors on our varsity team, we weren’t able to move up a lot of girls from JV, so that left us with a team that was packed with serious experience.” The freshman/sophomore team is also talent-rich, and came closest to actually toppling rival Chaparral. “That was a very close game; they went extra points in the third set,” Bunker said. Many of the girls on the freshman/ sophomore team also play indoor club volleyball year-round or beach volleyball, so they bring that experience with them to the team. “Having this high-level of experience definitely affects the overall performance of the team in a most positive way,” Bunker said. Bunker is in her fourth year as head volleyball coach at Arcadia, so she’s been with her seniors since their freshman year. She says she’s enjoyed her time helping her players play at high level and connect with each other. “Our volleyball program has always been like a second family,” said senior Grace Eubanks. “It’s really hard to go into high school and adjust to such a big change in your life, but being on my team, I didn’t have to worry about that anymore as I instantly found somewhere to belong.” Arcadia High volleyball teams put together solid seasons Arcadia’s varsity team, from left: Hannah Walker, Melissa Hannay, Diana Thies, Maddie Knee, Maddie Mittendorf, Grace Koss, Jaclyn Reid, Ally Bolden, Lauren Sayre, Vania Mendez, Grace Eubanks, Zora Carrier, Megan Mellen, Bella Hanson. PHOTO: TRISTAN RAINE FILM

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