The MacDonald Condors went into Gunn High School on Oct. 26 at a disadvantage. Not only was it senior night for the Gunn Titans, but Gunn also had the more veteran roster. Gunn had five senior players, many of whom had several years of varsity experience.
Conversely, MacDonald’s team was made up of mostly younger talent, including freshman and sophomore hitters, Ava Tacci and Nina Blanusa. Despite the experience disparity, MacDonald Head Coach Richard Lumactod had his players ready.
“I let them know that we are a younger team, that being a younger team, we’re playing against girls that are a little more older, a little more experienced, a little more volleyball IQ, but that doesn’t stop us from being creative on the court, and doesn’t stop us from giving it our all and trying our best,” said Lumactod. “This is development of both skill and character, and to build to the next level. As long as they continue to work hard and do their best, they’re only going to improve and get better.”
Get better they did. Though MacDonald dropped the first set and fell behind in the second, the Condors didn’t give up. The team rallied from down 12-20 to bring the score to 23-24. Senior setter Gillian Mabilin and youngsters Tacci, Blanusa and Maya Castro all played key roles in closing the gap.
While the Condors ultimately lost the set 23-25, the momentum helped the Condors win the next two sets 25-23 and 25-21. Gunn won the fifth set 10-15 and the match 2-3, but Lumactod was proud of the way his players. Ultimately, he believes it’s a building block of what the Condors can become.
“They’re developing a lot of chemistry, and it’s only going to improve over the next few years,” said Lumactod. “They have a lot of heart and determination, and they’re fighters. I think we’re going to [do] really well in the next year or two.”
Because it was senior night, Gunn honored its five senior players before the game. The school also paid tribute to MacDonald’s two seniors, Mabilin and Darlene Tran, giving each player flowers and a poster.
“What they did was really thoughtful. I didn’t expect it at all,” said Mabilin after the game.
She’s played a key role with MacDonald this season, guiding the young Condors on and off the court.
“Being one of the two seniors on a team of mostly freshmen, it feels really nice to be a big impact on their volleyball career,” said Mabilin. “Especially knowing that they’re looking up to us. It’s kind of nice to feel like they think of us as a big leader on the court, and they respect us as well. It’s nice to give them wisdom on and off the court, and also just being their friend, being kind to them. That’s cool.”
Mabilin was the team’s best player at the service line. She finished the night with six aces and had six kills as well. Tacci and Blanusa were both dangerous at the net. Blanusa finished the night with 17 kills and Tacci was close behind with 16.*
Other Condors contributors included Tina Yusufi, Makayla Tacci, Saniyah Vaswani, Carmen Garcia-Galli and Camila Nguyen.
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