Occasionally, a high school team moves beyond what is expected and does something far more gracious than expected. That was the case in California, where a boys volleyball team unilaterally offered to move a key match against a regional rival to accommodate the foe’s prom.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times and a variety of other Souther California outlets, the Anaheim (Calif.) Esperanza High volleyball team was scheduled to face off against Goleta (Calif.) Dos Pueblos High on May 11. Unfortunately, that was the day of the Dos Pueblos prom.
The Dos Pueblos squad had a right to ask for a change in the time of the game, but not the date. Still, when Dos Pueblos asked to move the game to a new day, Esperanza agreed quickly out of principle.
"It was a classy move by Esperanza to help us out, and we really appreciate it," Dos Pueblos Athletic Director Dan Feldhaus told the Times’ Eric Sondheimer.
In the end, things still worked out of Esperanza, with the Aztecs knocking off Dos Pueblos 22-25, 25-13, 25-22, 25-21. The victory pushed Esperanza into the CIF Division 2 semifinals, albeit a couple days later.
In what could be credited as a string of good karma, Esperanza went on to capture the Division 2 crown, with a spot in the Southern Sectional playoffs following as a result.
Naturally, all of this may have happened with a prom night forfeit against Dos Pueblos, too, but it wouldn’t have been as classy. As Esperanza showed, that really does mean something.
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