The enjoyment of playing a loved sport is a goal of the Farrington girls volleyball team says teammates Angeline Ah-Ching Noga, Losa Foki and Jamie Leigh Choy.  The lady volleyballers are striving to win as many games as possible, but understand that the Oahu Interscholastic Association has lots of good teams.  So instead of being frustrated at their won-loss record, the team is simply going out on the court each game to have fun while trying to win.

“This is a re-building year for us,” coach Reagan Agena said during a recent practice session. “We lost a lot of seniors last year so practically everyone on this team is getting their first taste of regularly playing. We have all of the pieces there, but we need to fit them all together.”  Agena says the team is striving to steadily improve in preparation for the league tournament which is set to start on October 6th.

“I do hope that we can play better at the end of the season,” Agena said. “There was a change as far as re-shuffling of the teams this season with three schools moving up from the White Division. Those three teams are really good competitors and proves that the league as a whole is strong.”

Foki, the team’s setter, indicated that the team enjoys playing against strong competition. “We get the experience of competing against the best players in the state. And it’s a joy to be able to battle them. That‘s the fun part of playing volleyball; competing against the best. But our team will not just lay down when we play them. We are determined to always play our best,” Foki said. “At practice we work on many techniques to help us get better,” said Foki, a senior who is playing her first season for the Governors. Last season Foki performed for Kapolei. “Myself, I work with my teammates to try to figure out the spots on the court where they feel most comfortable hitting the ball from,” Foki revealed. “And I think by me practicing on this I can do a better job in controlling the tempo of our offense.”

Ah-Ching Noga, a senior, says playing for Farrington for four years has been a dream come true. “Ever since I was small I have enjoyed the game of volleyball. I can remember watching games on TV and saying to myself that this was a sport I wanted to play,” Ah-Ching Noga said.  “So each game I go out there on the court and play hard. Eventually our team will get better especially If we continue to work our hardest. Then come tournament time I believe we’ll be able to play with more consistency and perhaps we will win a few games to help us reach the state tournament. That’s a realistic goal of this team,” Ah-Ching Noga added.

The future of the Farrington team will one day land on the shoulders of Choy, a sophomore. She says she is very eager to learn from her older teammates.  “I try to learn as much as I can from our seniors,” Choy said. “And I’m sure that the experience of playing against tough competition will help us become better at learning the fundamentals of the game. Sure we are taking a beating now, but we just have to keep playing with pride in our ability and knowing that we can compete.”  “I know the players on this team want to win. ...It’s difficult to go against teams like Kahuku and Moanalua. But those teams know that we are capable of beating them if they slack,” added Choy.

Farrington plays home games against Kaiser on September 14th, Kahuku on September 23rd and Castle on September 30th in the second half of the season.