Player Profile: Emily Sklar

Emily Sklar is currently a senior at Presentation High School and is one of the stars on the varsity volleyball team, playing as an outside hitter. Her perseverance, dedication and full commitment to the sport has truly shaped her into a fierce competitor. This past summer, she attended the 2011 USA Volleyball Junior National Championship and was one out of 15 girls selected as an All-American. She has also recently committed to playing volleyball at Duke next year. The Voice had an opportunity to speak with Emily about her volleyball career and what to look out for this upcoming season.

The Voice: When and how did you start playing volleyball?

ES: I started in the fifth grade, but I didn’t really think I would do it seriously. During my freshman year, tryouts were the first week of school and the Athletic Director was Ryan [Cooling] then. He came up to me at lunch and asked me why I hadn’t tried out. So I came the last day of tryouts and he put me on the freshman team.

The Voice: Do you play on a club team? Which one?

ES: Yes, I play for Vision.

The Voice: What’s your favorite thing about the sport?

ES: My favorite thing is probably no contact because you don’t get hurt; but it’s just satisfying to hit the ball and have it hit the ground.

The Voice: If you didn’t play volleyball, what other sport(s) would you play and why?

ES: I would probably play soccer because I used to play since I was in kindergarten. I played freshman year, but I quit after that.

The Voice: What are your goals for this upcoming season?

ES: This season I feel like we’re kind of underdogs, since we lost a lot of people. So I think we just want to be a come-from-behind team that no one expects. I don’t want to be overlooked, but I think I just want to surprise people.

The Voice: Who do you think would be the team to beat this year? How will the team prepare?

ES: I think the team to beat this year would be Saint Francis. We would have to prepare mentally because we lost to them either four or five times last year, so I think it’s kind of a revenge match.

The Voice: Do you think the team is closely bonded? Do you have any traditions you like to do during the season?

ES: I think we have a lot of new players, so we don’t really know each other all that well yet, but I think that everyone gets along so far and we bond pretty well. We have our initiation and we kind of just make that up as we go along. We have a lot of people to initiate this year and we do little pregame dance, which is a little hard to explain.

The Voice: Have you experienced any downfall? What have you learned from it?

ES: The biggest downfall was probably losing to Saint Francis three times in the post season last year. I think it was kind of upsetting because we beat them three times before and we came to the matches when it really mattered and we couldn’t pull through.

The Voice: When you receive any constructive criticism from your coaches, how do you turn it around into something positive?

ES: I guess I just look at what they’re saying is something that I should be doing and they just want me to be a better player, looking out for me and the team. I think listening to it is important, because it’s just not about me it’s about helping the whole team plan.

The Voice: What would you like to improve on?

ES: Maybe being more of a leader and being louder. I’m naturally not very talkative, so I probably would like to be more emotional and encouraging, I guess.

The Voice: What was your proudest volleyball moment?

ES: When we won the Santa Barbara Tournament last year.

Sought Out Seniors

 It’s a new semester, and with that comes more college recruitments for senior athletes. Here are some of your fellow panthers that have committed to colleges for sports.

 Megan White

Recruited for: track and field

Committed to: Concordia University

Sports career: Began running in seventh grade

Achievements: running the Simplot Meet in Idaho, the Dream Indor Meet in Fresno and the Stanford Invitational.

“I like running with other people who have a passion for the sport and have created many friendships throughout my years at Pres.”

Katy Tagart

Recruited for: volleyball

Committed to: University of the Pacific

Sports Career: Began playing in seventh grade.

Achievements: Took third at the Junior Olympics last summer

“I love playing in big matches under pressure. Nothing compares to the feeling of winning a big match with your team.”

 Tori Tsolis

Recruited for: track and field

Committed to: UC Santa Barbara

Sports Career: Has been playing since age 7.

Achievements: 800M WCAL champion freshman and sophomore year, 1600M WCAL champion junior year.

“ What I enjoy most about cross country and track is the team atmosphere. Running seems like an individual sport, but it really takes the support from your entire team to succeed.”

Game of the Month

 

On Wednesday the 27th, varsity volleyball put on their game faces and stepped on their home court to challenge St. Francis for their final WCAL league game. With three defeats over St. Francis, Presentation had the upper hand, but in a shocking finish St. Francis took the win 4-1.

Tough playing by both teams kept the excitement high and the crowd on their feet, but St. Francis brought their A game, and it was difficult to break their determination. With the loss, Presentation ended up with a record of 22-3.

After our senior stars were announced and applauded, the starting lineup stepped onto the court. Seniors Sarah Cole, Katie Pearson, Molly Pearson, Katy Shatzman as Libero and Katy Tagart set up in their starting positions accompanied by junior Ronnie Bither.

The first game started with high enthusiasm from St. Francis as they took the first two points of the match, but a quick change of

stamina sparked when Tagart hit a hard spike to gain Presentation’s first point. The game was back and forth as hard-hitting action took place on both sides of the court. A back-to-back spike by Cole and Sklar put Pres in the lead; but due to some hard Lancer spikes, St. Francis took the first game 25-19.

St. Francis’ athleticism provided them with a 4-0 lead over Pres in the beginning of the second game, but an out-of-bounds hit from St. Francis provided Pres with the side out needed to rekindle their high spirits. A spike by Sklar and a conjoined block by Tagart and Pearson led Pres to their next couple points, but an error by Pres put St. Francis back in the lead.

The energy change in this game moved with celerity and an amazing tip by Tagart brought Pres back in the game. Back and forth points from both teams resulted in St. Francis taking the win in this close match with a final score of 25-22.

The third game started again with St. Francis grasping the lead, but they did not hold onto it for long. Fans and players were on their feet when Sklar blocked a powerful hit from St. Francis; this exciting play gave Pres room to add to their score and get back into the game. A run from Presentation–including a block from Pearson and a powerful spike by Cole–brought Pres to a 22-18 lead over St. Francis; this was their biggest lead of the night.

One out hit brought St. Francis’s spirit back up and they succeeded in catching up and now only trailed by two points. Another incredible block by Pearson and Bither put the 24th point on the board, and with a hit in the net by St. Francis, Pres took the match 25-23.

St. Francis led the beginning of the fourth game, but, with no surprise, junior Sklar put points on the board for Pres with a strong spike. St. Francis led the Panthers 12-6. Cole raised the energy for Pres once again with a nerve-racking tip. The determination level remained high in the fourth game. Sklar finished off a long-lasting rally with an amazing spike. Pres battled hard to gain back the points lost by minuscule mistakes, but unluckily St. Francis ended up taking the fourth match 25-18 to win the game.

Senior Sarah Cole says that despite their loss this game was a turning point for their team. “I think we all would agree that it was an opportunity for us to really come together as a team, which we hadn’t ever fully done,” she said.

Presentation Volleyball was able to bounce back the following weekend and commandeer the title of #1 team in the country. The team went undefeated at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions, where they faced St. Francis once again. Presentation received first place in the tournament and St. Francis was placed in 9th.

Presentation played St. Francis on November 4 for co-champions of WCAL.

November Game of the Month: Varsity Volleyball

On October 29, a row of four proud Presentation athletes stood in front of a raging crowd. The rest of their teammates stood behind them, cheering for them and congratulating them for their final home game at Presentation High School. The four seniors, Claire Hansen, Sarah Blach, Motade Atanda, and Stephanie Dvorak, were excited for their last volleyball game. The opposing team, Saint Ignatius, mentally prepared themselves for what they knew would be a hard game.
Senior Night, a tradition for volleyball as Pres, is a game that draws many viewers and really represents our school pride. Usually, all the members of the seniors’ families attend this game to see their girls’ final moment on the volleyball court. Traditionally, the rest of the team makes signs for the seniors and hang them on the walls for all to see. The seniors receive flowers and a special presentation from the announcer.
After these festivities were over, the girls got ready to start their game. Starting off strong, Presentation attacked SI with kill after kill. Atanda played a key role with plenty of sturdy blocks, shoving the ball back down onto SI’s side of the court. Pres won the first game quickly and easily, 25 to 16.
The second game was also quite successful and had plenty of exciting moments. Hansen and Blach were on their game and were hitting spectacularly. Blach, an outside hitter, slammed the balls down at SI fiercely. Her serves were also very strong and resulted in a lot of aces. Hansen, a right side hitter, crushed balls into the corner of the court. These hits almost always hit the floor on SI’s side of the court. Though they were working hard, SI’s frustration was apparent by the time they lost the second game 25 to 15. Presentation’s spirits were up as they entered the third game with a lot of confidence.
The third game surely made Pres girls proud. All of the girls were working as hard as they could, even with the advantage against Saint Ignatius. Dvorak, a libero, was also playing very well. She was on her toes and ready to dig any ball hit at her. Whenever SI would try to trick the defense and tip the ball instead of hit it, Pres’ defense was there to pick it up and make a kill out of it. Nothing could get past the Presentation defense. Every girl on the team also had very consistent serves. With around half the team jump serving, balls were being fired at SI. There were not many serves that did not make it over the net or went out of bounds. This third game was won 25 to 14.
All in all, Presentation performed very well against Saint Ignatius. The girls worked together as a team and truly made the spectators proud. Coach Cooling, excited about the win, stated “It was an amazing game. We couldn’t have played any better. The seniors were phenomenal. The game was a must-win for us and we dominated from beginning to end.” The team is now competing in CCS; best luck to them and go Panthers!