The last time the Los Gatos High School girls volleyball team won a league championship, Portia Zeidler was in the eighth grade.
Now in her senior year, Zeidler would love nothing more than to lead the Wildcats to a Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division title this season.
“Winning league is definitely something we can do if we work hard in practice,” said Zeidler, a University of Notre Dame-commit. “It’s been a goal since I was a freshman. We definitely have the potential and I think we can do some great things.”
After playing middle blocker in the first three years of her high school career, Zeidler has transitioned to right side hitter. So far, so good.
“I’m definitely excited to be playing right side,” she said. “We have so many middles which is different from most teams, and we’re doing some fun combo plays.”
The biggest adjustment for Zeidler has been the timing on her attacks. Middles typically hit fast tempo sets, while right side has a more deliberate leadup to the attack. Zeidler has been hitting a lot from the three zone for Los Gatos, which entered the week 2-3.
Despite graduating the majority of their starting lineup off last year’s team, the Wildcats return a talented lineup that includes outside hitters Capri Allen, Stella Kanter, Kate Langner and Nadia Wilk.
“Capri has been playing super well,” Zeidler said. “We have a lot of new, different players on the court this season and I’m excited to see how we come together.”
Juniors Sienna McGrath and Sadie Bins return to fortify the middle blocker position, and another junior, Silvia Miletich, can play the middle and right side. Zeidler said the team will rely heavily on sophomore libero Caylin Thomas and senior Annette Bassani to provide rock-solid passing and defense.
Seniors Britt Melinauskas and Ammie Vo-Robinson return after playing well last season. Violet Ford-Pustelnik, Leilah Bakhtiari and Grace Krasniewicz provide the team with quality depth at nearly every position. In Zeidler, Los Gatos has an undeniable talent who can take over matches with her ability on the block and on the attack. The 6-foot-4 Zeidler can terminate the ball with efficiency and has made tremendous improvement in the last few years.
“I’m looking to get better and expand my skill level,” she said. “It’s also really important for me to help build this team up and encourage the younger players to be at their best.”
Zeidler attended a Notre Dame camp last summer after which time the Fighting Irish offered her a scholarship.
“I knew immediately after going out there the first time, that I wanted to play there,” she said. “The team culture is amazing and the coaching staff is great.”
Zeidler comes from a family of athletes. Her dad and uncle both high jumped at the Division I level and her second cousin, McKenna Vicini, played volleyball at Stanford and is currently competing at the professional level for the San Diego Mojo.
“McKenna is definitely someone I looked up to if I had questions to ask and she would give me advice,” Zeidler said. “She was at Stanford just as I was really getting serious into volleyball, and I have some great memories of going to Stanford and watching her play.”
Zeidler started playing volleyball as a sixth grader and two years later was on a travel team. At the time, Zeidler was still growing into her current 6-4 frame, but she said strength training helped her become more athletic on the court.
“It was certainly difficult when I was at that awkward stage and getting really tall,” she said. “But I started weight lifting and that helped me to move faster and jump higher, and as the years progressed, I really saw a difference that made in my game.”
