QHSS Lady Cardinals Take Flight!

Cardinals on three! QHSS’s first Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team takes flight in their first ever season as a team, led by Head Coach Jose Mondestin and sophomore co-captains Eve Kim and Athalia Narantika. The Lady Cardinals soared above the competition this fall season with 6 wins and 3 losses, placing second overall within the division and playing against teams such as Epic High School and Scholars Academy.

The final match was held at Scholars Academy in the Rockaways against High School for Law Enforcement and Public Safety with an impressive 2-0 win, with the final score of 25-16.

“I feel awesome, flying in the air,” exclaims Head Coach Jose Mondestin when asked about the team’s several victories. “When I see a player miss, I say ‘What have you done!’ but when they ace a serve or win a rally, I’m flying in the clouds, excited, you know? I can feel the win coming.”

However, it wasn’t always smooth soaring for the team; practice was often cut short due to conflicting schedules with York College’s own sports teams, as well as members not being able to attend the full practice due to 9th period classes. Since practices are only held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, co-captain Athalia Narantika contends, it “results in less practice time and longer hours into the day.”

Additionally, the Lady Cardinals didn’t wear actual jerseys until their sixth game. The team resorted to using the school gym shirts as jerseys in official games, until the Lady Cardinals were able to sport the iconic red uniforms they wear now.

Despite previous setbacks, the Lady Cardinals are looking forward to next year’s season with more experience, energy, and effort; “I’m really proud of how the girls have been playing so far in the season,” says sophomore Eve Kim, co-captain. “As a first year team what we have accomplished is amazing and I only see us becoming better. We have faced many challenges like better teams and questionable jerseys, but we have overcome those challenges and came back stronger.” The team also aims to work on having “better communication and understanding of positions, rotations, and technique” for the following season to come.