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28 | July 11, 2019 | Malibu surfside news sports<br />
malibusurfsidenews.com<br />
MHS athletes step up to the challenge<br />
Athlete of the Week<br />
Moore, Mellberg<br />
gain experience<br />
in adult volleyball<br />
tournament<br />
Lauren Coughlin, Editor<br />
Malibu High School<br />
students Liam Moore and<br />
Maya Mellberg were part<br />
of a winning effort June 23,<br />
while playing in a Westside<br />
Volleyball advanced-division<br />
adult tournament in<br />
Los Angeles.<br />
Malibu High School volleyball<br />
coach Derek Saenz<br />
invited Moore and Mellberg,<br />
believing that the two<br />
were up to the challenge.<br />
The team came away with<br />
a 7-1, first-place finish.<br />
“They played very well<br />
and were not intimidated<br />
by being the only minors<br />
(Left to right) Kashauna Williams, Liam Moore, Maya Mellberg, Malibu High School<br />
volleyball coach Derek Saenz, Jessica King, Robert Black and Kristen Overton played<br />
in a Westside Volleyball adult, co-ed tournament on June 23. The team won 7-1 to take<br />
first place in the event. Photo Submitted<br />
in the tournament,” Saenz<br />
wrote in an email to the<br />
Surfside News.<br />
Also playing on the team<br />
were: Kashauna Williams,<br />
Jessica King, Robert Black<br />
and Kristen Overton.<br />
Saenz explained that the<br />
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tournament is played on<br />
a women’s net, and only<br />
women are allowed to attack<br />
the ball.<br />
“I stacked the team with<br />
elite women to allow Maya<br />
to get on the court and not<br />
have to carry the offense,<br />
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just compliment it,” Saenz<br />
explained. “Liam is developing<br />
his passing and defense,<br />
because in men’s he<br />
is a very small outside hitter<br />
at 5’10” and will need to<br />
develop into a dominant defender.<br />
So playing against<br />
elite women on a women’s<br />
net is good practice.”<br />
Saenz said his “powerhouse”<br />
team quickly became<br />
“the one to beat,” as<br />
Williams, King and Overton<br />
can all touch 10 feet or higher.<br />
Sharing the experience<br />
with the MHS athletes was<br />
important to Saenz, and he<br />
hopes it helps inspire both<br />
Sharks to “passionately pursue<br />
being the best.”<br />
“It’s a mindset that has<br />
not been pushed in the past<br />
and without this experience<br />
it’s such an abstract thing to<br />
want to go for, but hopefully<br />
now with experiencing it<br />
first-hand, it will be something<br />
thing they crave,”<br />
Saenz said.<br />
In other news, Saenz<br />
shared that Malibu High<br />
will host its second annual<br />
“Red, White, Bu” volleyball<br />
scrimmages at 1 p.m.<br />
on July 27. Admission is<br />
free, and the event is to include<br />
pro and college athletes,<br />
Saenz said.<br />
10 Questions<br />
with Easton Lucas<br />
Pepperdine alumnus Easton<br />
Lucas was drafted by the<br />
Miami Marlins in the 2019<br />
MLB Draft.<br />
When and why did you<br />
start playing baseball?<br />
I started playing baseball<br />
when I was 5. I just played<br />
with my dad in the backyard<br />
before that.<br />
What do you like most<br />
about the sport?<br />
I like the competition.<br />
Back then I liked playing<br />
now I like the mental side.<br />
What is your favorite<br />
sports moment?<br />
My senior year of high<br />
school was pretty fun, I<br />
threw three no-hitters.<br />
What is one thing people<br />
don’t know about you?<br />
I have seven younger siblings<br />
and I’m the oldest.<br />
If you could be any<br />
superhero, who would<br />
you be?<br />
I would go with Wolverines<br />
regeneration. That<br />
jeff golden/pepperdine athletics<br />
would be helpful for baseball.<br />
What would you do if<br />
you won the lottery?<br />
I would buy a house<br />
somewhere and invest the<br />
rest of it.<br />
If you could play any<br />
other sport, which<br />
would it be?<br />
I would play golf. I<br />
played through high school<br />
and stopped in college.<br />
What is your favorite<br />
area restaurant?<br />
I like Kaishin in Malibu.<br />
I get the chicken fried rice.<br />
What is one thing on<br />
your bucket list?<br />
Going to Hawaii. Haven’t<br />
gotten around to doing it.<br />
If you could be any<br />
animal, which would<br />
you be?<br />
I would go with a tiger.<br />
I like athletic animals that<br />
are sure of themselves.<br />
Interview by Assistant Editor<br />
Michal Dwojak
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