Award-winning Upper School Girls’ Varsity Volleyball player Gabriela Fernandes ‘26 is reminded often of one of the defining moments of her high school volleyball career. Though the Raiders trailed 0-9 in the fifth set—a nearly insurmountable deficit in a 15-point set—she recalls how de-emphasizing the scoreboard helped deliver her and the team a decisive win.
“Winning a state championship is a feeling like no other. The feeling of being on your toes the whole match, being with your best friends, and doing your hair in the locker room is like no other,” Fernandes said. “I think about it every day when I wake up and see my trophy and my ring.”
Her coach, Emilio Rodriguez, recalls another defining match—particularly the 2024 state semifinal. The Raiders were facing elimination in the third set when Fernandes tapped into a different gear.
“She finally hit a switch,” Rodriguez said. “She was attacking relentlessly, being extremely explosive. We ended up losing that match, but afterward I told her: ‘That’s the Gabby we need always.’”
According to Rodriguez, this match shaped her singular volleyball trajectory in her senior year, one marked by empowering her teammates and ensuring her legacy outlives her immediate swing.
“Volleyball has taught me that the world does not revolve around me,” the prizewinning player said. “Volleyball is a team sport … you [players] have to be there for your team because you don’t win because of one person, you win because of the support and effort you give other people.”
Her coach affirms that her holistic approach to volleyball success—earning her the distinction of one of only two previous Raider Girls’ Volleyball state champions—has been a resounding success that reverberates even beyond her accolades and throughout the field.
“Her biggest strength has always been her ability to be the glue of any team,” Rodriguez said. “She can always be found teaching and encouraging younger players, or holding all her teammates accountable … she wears her emotions on her sleeves and strives to uphold the culture we’ve instilled in this program.”
When asked about her greatest accomplishment, Fernandes doesn’t reference her state championship win nor her years of championship and commitment to the team, but how she’s made her teammates feel and the overall culture she’s carefully cultivated.
“Everyone only sees the outcome, but I am most proud of the girls being able to call me one of their role models and being able to teach the GPVB [Raider Girls’ Volleyball] culture to them, because they have all become my sisters,” Fernandes said. “In the locker room, during school, at practice, on the bus, those memories are what truly build the culture and love, but that is something that only we feel.”
