SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. — Packed gyms with students and parents screaming for their home squad, the Girls High School Volleyball environment can rival that of Friday night football.

As San Juan Hills students filed into their gym to watch their Stallions play rival Aliso Niguel, “It was really hype and just amazing to have everyone supporting us,” says Maya Cappellino, a four-year Varsity athlete for the Stallions. “There was such a competitive atmosphere, and even though we lost a really close match in the end, it was a really great moment.”

Cappellino started playing volleyball in sixth grade with A4 Volleyball Club and was joined by future four-year Varsity athlete for Tesoro Girls Volleyball Ellie Hanson a year later. The two became close friends and grew together as leaders and players.

Hanson learned to love the game, after hating it when she first started, and believes it helped her develop into a better person.  “Volleyball shows you how to compartmentalize your own mental energy while also putting it into other people,” points out Hanson. “Mistakes happen so quickly and being able to get over those and move on to the next point helps me not only on the court but in everyday life.”

Both girls have major success in their sport but also lean into the importance of their individual leadership roles. As a captain at San Juan Hills, Cappellino put an emphasis on improving the Stallion team culture.

“When I was a freshman, the culture on the team was toxic and there was a lot of tension between players,” says Cappellino. After using her role in leadership as a chance to improve the program around her she shares, “I’m proud to say that as a senior, I feel like this past season’s team was the closest of any team we’ve had.”

Just down the road at Tesoro Hanson shares her experience, “Yes, I have a captain name or leadership name, but it goes beyond that. I’m someone my teammates can look up to and talk to, and I can be there for them whomever or whatever it is.”

As successful as both are, neither Cappellino nor Hanson would claim they do it without the support of the people around them. Cappellino’s number one fan, her mom, has been to every travel trip with her since she was 12 years old. At any of Hanson’s games, someone from her family would always be there, and during COVID her grandpa set up their TV to stream her games on any platform he could find.

Hanson, Tesoro’s 2021-2022 Female Athlete of the Year, is excited and ready for four years of Division One volleyball at Miami University in Ohio and hopes to play for the Puerto Rico National Team in coming years. Cappellino finishing as a Valedictorian at San Juan Hills is prioritizing her biology major—the required class labs would make playing collegiate volleyball nearly impossible—although she will still play for the club level team at Baylor University.

“When you’re passionate about something, it doesn’t really feel like work,” Cappellino concludes, even with busy schedules and pressure-filled gyms. “It is something you are willing to create time for.”

Best of luck to Cappellino and Hanson in their next chapters.

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