After Two Losses, Golden Eagles Eye Arch Rival Oakland Charter in Tonight’s Volleyball Showdown

Despite consecutive loses, the Golden Eagles Volleyball team will look to bounce back against their rival OCA in tonight's matchup. 

(OAKLAND, Ca) After two consecutive losses and a well-earned spring break, the AIPHS Boys Volleyball team will look to upend their rival Oakland Charter Academy, this evening, at 5PM at Jamtown, in Oakland, CA.  

After falling 3-0 to last year’s CIF Oakland Section runner-up Kipp King, on March 26, the Golden Eagles sought their first win of the season against Leadership Prep just two days later.   After winning their first set amidst stellar play junior Calvin Zhao (#4), the Golden Eagles seemed well on their way to earn their first win.  But the boys were unable to seal the deal and LPS eventually won in four sets.  

The Boys Volleyball team proved they can compete against top talent, despite their season-opener loss against Kipp King Collegiate. 

Tonight’s match-up against OCA will make the third of four during in AIPHS’s first year of athletics.  In September, the AIPHS Boys Soccer team lost 4-1 to OCA in their season opener.  But in the Lady Eagle’s Soccer season opener against OCA in March, the girls team won 4-1.  

After tonight’s showdown, the Boys Volleyball team will get another opportunity to play OCA in their final game of the season.  

AIPHS vs. Oakland Charter Academy
Wednesday, April 11, @5PM
Jamtown, 31 4th Street, Oakland, CA 94607

For more information about the AIPHS Lady Eagles Soccer Team, please visit aimsathletics.com/boysvolleyball

AIPHS Golden Eagles Volleyball Team Look To Prove They Belong

When AIPHS introduced sports this year, the sports budget was limited to only five sports teams: Cross Country, Boys and Girls Soccer, Swimming, and Girls Volleyball.  The latter, girls volleyball, was AIPHS’s most popular sport to date and attracted a loyal following, particularly, a group of AIPHS male students.  Every week, these young men would practice with several Lady Eagles players during lunch and even served as competition to the girls team in their after school practices. 

Andy Phan (#14) and Henry Huang (#2) were among those who practiced independently of an official AIPHS Boys Volleyball Team.  

Yet, even after the Lady Eagles’ season ended, the boys could be found at lunch between Portable 1 and the main building practicing among themselves and spiking an occasional volleyball into the parking lot.  With their dedication and commitment, it became widely apparent that they were on a quest to field a Boys Volleyball team at AIPHS.  To do so, the Golden Eagles would need to complete a series of five steps prior to launch. 

Step 1: Generate Interest.  To field a team, there would need to be legitimate interest.  Check.

Step 2:  Find A League.  Oddly enough, the boys weren't sure if volleyball would be offered as a sport, as budget cuts to the Oakland Athletic League threatened to cancel several spring sports altogether.  It would take until early January before the boys received confirmation of a volleyball sports season.  Check.

Step 3: Secure Finances.  Thanks in large part to Head of School Tareyton Russ, AIPHS agreed to help assist the team’s initial costs, provided that the Boys Volleyball team fundraises throughout their sports season.  Check.

Step 4: Find A Coach. To mesh well with this group of brash teenaged boys, Coach Cassandra Choi was chosen as the right hire.  In her 4th year at AIMS, Coach Choi started playing sports when she was 6.  She has competed in softball, basketball, volleyball, tennis, cross country, track and field, and downhill slalom skiing, and was a hurdler and high jumper at Augustana University until her career ended because of injury.  She graduated with a double major in French and International Affairs and had hopes of working for the government, but surprisingly discovered that she loved teaching after spending 5 years teaching preschool in South Korea.  Now, Coach Choi balances a very peculiar life that ranges from teaching kindergarteners to coaching teenage boys. Check.

The Golden Eagles Volleyball team will look to prove they belong with the top schools in the CIF Oakland Section.

Step 5:  Prove They Belong.  It’s easy to taper expectations for a first year program that wasn’t supposed to exist.  But instead, the Golden Eagles only have one objective: become one of the two BACSAC schools to qualify for the Oakland Section Playoffs and compete for a championship.  To get there, the Golden Eagles will need to do its best in the face of stacked competition, including matches against traditional Oakland schools like Oakland Tech, Skyline High, and defending Oakland Section Champs, Oakland High in three consecutive matches. Regardless of the end result, the AIPHS Boys Volleyball team is here to stay, because they belong.  Their persistence and determination is what led them there.  Check.  

Come support the Golden Eagles against Kipp King in their first game of the season, this Monday, March 26, at 5PM, at Kipp King Collegiate High School, in San Lorenzo.  

To learn more about the Golden Eagles Volleyball Team or to access their volleyball schedule, please visit aimsathletics.com/boysvolleyball.  

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FUNDRAISING ALERT:  The Boys Volleyball Team needs your help!  Please consider supporting the Boys Volleyball Team and AIPHS Athletics with a generous donation. For more information, please email Coach Choi at Cassandra.choi@aimschools.org.