Jessica Li also contributed to this article.
Attaining enough money to host a fruitful prom has remained the purpose of CO’22 fundraisers for much of the school year. March’s volleyball tournament, a part of their “March Madness” events, was an extension of this goal.
“We had the first tournament which was in the fall, and the kids loved playing and so they kept asking for another one,” volleyball coach Daniel Jurkowski stated, “I decided to have a second one before the boys season started.”
Both fundraisers proved successful, according to Jurkowski, “[it is] not a lot of cost to do this; we [do not] pay for anything. So basically anything that we do and charge for admission is just more fundraising for the seniors.”
Held inside Malden High’s Finn gym, attendees purchased tickets for $3.00 to spectate players bump, set and hit competitively for two hours.
60 players﹘ranging from freshmen to seniors﹘were split up into two divisions: seven varsity and three junior varsity teams.
Those in the varsity division included the following:
- Team Milkmen: Cyril Jeremie, Lisette Curran, Linda Le, Aiden Tham, Alina Dao and Edward Mei.
- Team Powerpuff Girls: Eric Mei, Kevin Lin, Jason Li, Kenton Nguyen, Riley Strano and Yuki Yang.
- Team Keira and Friends: Kingson Chen, Ivan Tao, Timothy Du, Rachel Lin, Shuyi Chen and Keira Lin.
- Team Goombas: Kelly Le, Kyle Lee, Abigail Lee, Kim Nguyen, Jason Ong and Victor Desouza.
- Team Bubble Guppies: Ramneet Chahal, Lovely Gerochi, Alex Martins, Meryem Hakkaoui, Erick Rodrigues and James Dion Joaquin Jose.
- Team Burma Heat: Yoji Yonetani, Collin Thant Kyaw, Van Nguyen, Possible Ojo, Ryan Dalencour and Lucas Rogerio
- Team Notorious D.I.G.: Stephanie Larrieux, Marla Candido, Melissa Calixte, Ashly Rodrigue, Jadelini Mora and Daniel Jurkowski.
The JV teams were the following:
- Team FWYP: Sarah Pham, Jeslyn San, Alex Van, Gordon Zeng, Huong Ly and Saul Yaffe-Lee.
- Team Tiny Bones: Kevin Lin, Johnny Nguyen, Joao Victor Santos, Adin Chen, Phillip Li and Ethan Chen.
- Team Higor’s Goons: Kauan Da Silva Coelho, Gil Lawson, Gilberto Linares, Higor Oliveira, Derick Aldana and Bruan Memeus.
There was a mini-championship for the JV teams, and the winner would go on to play in the varsity bracket. As for the varsity teams, if they took two losses, they would be eliminated.
The games were only one set that went up to 15 points. Halfway through the set, teams switched sides. This is a common rule of the game to show that one side does not have any hidden advantages.
The championship game came down to team Goombas versus team Keira and Friends. Though the former was made up of good players, many thought there was a lack in communication.
Team Keira and Friends seemed to take the competition in a more fun way and in the end that is really what earned them the win. They communicated with each other and had great cooperation skills.
Though the game was close, in the end, team Keira and Friends won. There were lots of hoorahs, but also boos from upperclassmen who had been rooting for the Goombas. Team Keira and Friends were overjoyed and seemed to relish in their victory.
Jurkowski added that the Class of 2022 recently “got a significant donation from a Malden business owner at Townline, so that was a huge help to us because the buses that we need for transportation for students to and from were a little more expensive than we anticipated.”
“And then we did the Krispy Kreme again, and we did a volleyball tournament and we did the student and staff basketball game,” he continued, “fundraising has been pretty steady throughout the year… the goal was to get down to $75. So, we’re right there.”
Around $1,000 was raised from both fundraisers with all of it going towards prom.
“So that’s probably it for volleyball tournaments. I think one [we are] discussing now is possible a three-on-three basketball tournament or dodgeball tournament in the gym. So as far as sports fundraisers, that would be one of those two things,” Jurkowski concluded.
Teams lined up. Photo by Dani Licona-Cruz. 
Junior Timothy Du serves in the final round, increasing Keira + Friends’ five-point lead. Du was drawn to this event for “playing the sport I play.” Photo by Jessica Li. 
Senior Ivan Tao from Keira + Friends rejects sophomore Victor Desouza’s ball. Desouza mentioned, “I’ve only participated in the last tournament that we played before, where the same team I’m playing with now—the Goombas—made the team finals and lost to Milkmen… This time, we are playing in the finals and we are on against Keira + Friends for the championship.” Photo by Jessica Li. 
Sophomore Gilberto Linares from Higor’s Goons rejects Tiny Bones’ ball. “At first I was a little nervous, but [the audience] didn’t really affect me. Once we started playing, it was actually pretty fun… we went in having no expectations for ourselves but we won; I had an amazing time: a lot of laughs. I hope we can do it again one day.” Photo by Jessica Li. 
Junior Aiden Tham (Milkmen) lands a spike. Photo by Jessica Li. 
Sophomore Kauan Da Silva Coelho (Higor’s Goons) fights Tiny Bones’ wall with his spike. His team eventually winning “felt amazing. It felt astronomical.” Photo by Jessica Li. 
Sophomore Victor Desouza (Goombas) blocks his opponent’s ball. “My passion and love for the sport volleyball [drew me to this event],” he noted, “[I enjoyed] getting to play in a friendly 1-on-1 match with all my friends. I know most of the people playing today, and it was fun getting to verse them.” Photo by Jessica Li. 
Senior Linda Le (Milkmen) pushes the ball past blockers. Photo by Jessica Li. 
Sophomore Victor Desouza hits against Burma Heat’s wall. He enjoyed “getting to play in a friendly 1-on-1 match with all my friends. I know most of the people playing today, and it was fun getting to verse them.” Photo by Jessica Li. 
Players prepare for Senior Kingson Chen’s (Keira + Friends) hit in the final tournament. Chen shared, “it’s just really fun because you’re gonna bring all your friends into one team and… I think it’s a fun experience for everyone to try and you can join if you don’t know volleyball either… I’ve been playing volleyball for four years now.” Photo by Jessica Li. 
Sophomore Adin Chen spikes the ball against a block as teammates on the Tiny Bones team Ethan Chen and Johnny Nguyen watch on. Photo by Nathan Dean. 
Freshman Kenton Nguyen attempts a jump serve. Photo by Nathan Dean. 
A view of the varsity finals as Senior Kingson Chen goes for a spike. Photo by Nathan Dean. 
The view from the stands of the final match of the night. Photo by Nathan Dean. 
The sophomore, Derick Aldana, from the winning JV team, Higors Goons, passes the ball. Photo by Nathan Dean. 
Sophomore Adin Chen spikes the ball against a block. Photo by Nathan Dean. 
Senior, and captain of the boys varsity volleyball team, Kingson Chen soars through the air to make a serve. Photo by Nathan Dean.
