Fall sports celebrate ‘surreal’ Senior Nights

By Anika Bhavnani, Editor-in-Chief|November 3, 2016

Photo credit: Siena Mizel

Cat Oriel ’18 hugs Clara Gasparetti ’17 on Senior Night. Senior Night is a night where seniors are recognized for their work on an Archer athletics team.

For 15 seniors, years of hard work have all been leading up to their one night where it all counts: Senior Night.

Senior Night is an Archer tradition where lower classmen celebrate their sport team’s senior members during the team’s final home game. Athletes give speeches and gifts to honor their senior teammates, which is often an emotional experience.

This year, tennis and volleyball players celebrated Senior Night on Oct. 24, while cross country held theirs on Nov. 2.

Tennis

Seven seniors, Marine Yamada, Mari Goldberg, Annie Moore, Sara Rabinowitz, Liadan Solomon, Talia Natoli and Halle Jacobs, were all recognized on Senior Night, Oct 24. Solomon joined the tennis team this year, and the other six have been playing all four years of their high school career.
From left to right, seniors Marine Yamada, Sara Rabinowitz, Talia Natoli, Halle Jacobs, Annie Moore, Mari Goldberg and Liadan Solomon celebrate Senior Night at UCLA.  Solomon joined the tennis team this year, while the others have played all four years of high school. Photo courtesy of Yamada

This year’s tennis team included seven seniors: Mari Goldberg, Halle Jacobs, Annie Moore, Talia Natoli, Sara Rabinowitz, Sara Rabinowitz and Marine Yamada.

“For the past three years, I have seen all the seniors before me [honored], and it is weird to finally be one of them,” Yamada said.

For Senior Night, Archer played AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School, whom the Panthers defeated 11-8.

“[Senior Night] was definitely a bonding moment for all of us,” Jacobs said. “It reminded me of all the memories I’ve made with the tennis team in the past four years, how hard we’ve worked and how much fun we’ve had.”

 

Volleyball

Rachael Boehm '18 and Locke Luhnow '18 share a speech and give balloons to Sophie Smyth '17 in honor of senior night. Volleyball seniors also received signed posters of their jerseys.
Photo by Siena Mizel
Rachael Boehm ’18 and Locke Luhnow ’18 share a speech and give balloons to Sophie Smyth ’17 in honor of senior night. Volleyball seniors also received signed posters of their jerseys.

Clara Gasparetti, Zoe Pelikan,Valentina Pianiri and Sophie Smyth are the seniors on the 2016-2017 varsity volleyball team.

“[Senior Night] felt really nice,” Pianiri said. “It was kind of a shock to know that it was me [being celebrated] this year, but I was really happy.”

In their final regular season home game, the Panthers defeated rivals Pacifica Christian 3-0, which solidified their undefeated league record.

This was the first time Archer’s varsity volleyball team has gone undefeated in the Liberty League.

Cross Country

Seniors, Leyla Namazie, Rachel Pike, Kaia Turowski and Alyssa Downer pose after the MT Sac invitational. All four have been involved in Archer athletics for many years. Photo courtesy of Namazie
Seniors, from left to right standing, Leyla Namazie, Rachel Pike, Kaia Turowski and Alyssa Downer, sitting, pose after the Mt. SAC Invitational. All four have been involved in Archer athletics for many years. Photo courtesy of Namazie.

The Class of 2017 is represented on the cross country team by Alyssa Downer, Leyla Namazie, Rachel Pike and Kaia Turowski.

“It’s kind of surreal to actually be a part of Senior Night this year,” Downer said. “For the past three years, I’ve always been the one to write the speeches or make the cards, and now that it’s not my job anymore, it makes me a little sad.”

Caitlin Chen ’19, Namazie and Turowski placed in the top 15 during the meet. The team also qualified for the CIF playoff and got third in their league.

“I see Rachel, Leyla and Kaia everyday giving it their all and not giving up,” Downer said. “It’s inspiring not only myself but all the other girls on the team.”

All three teams have continued their season with post season CIF play. Tennis closed out their season on Nov. 2 with a loss in CIF Round 1 to Chaminade College Preparatory School. Volleyball will play Webb on Nov. 3 and cross country will compete on Nov. 12.