Sports vs. Religion won’t stop ECVHS

By Nick Pellegrino
Updated: April 11, 2024

2024 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS VOLLEYBALL

By Nick Pellegrino
ECS Senior writer

EL CAJON – Conflicts betwwen athlics and religion have been minor over the years.

The NCAA recognized the wishes of Brigham Young University to not play on Sundays in the men’s and women’s basketball championships.

Locally, the CIF San Diego Section allows Escondido Adventist not to play Fridays, while San Diego Jewish Academt will not play from sunset to sunset on Friday night util late Saturday afternoon.

Of course, since most of the United States have traditionally been one segment or another of Cristiuanity, Christmas Day and Eastern are listed as days not to partake in athletic competitions.

However, with the influx of Muslims in the El Cajon Valley, holding their own Islamic holy days, will the Grossmont Conference and other school districts need to recognize such dates and avoid playing on certain dates.

Over the last few weeks, the Braves boys volleyball team, which is ranked among the bteer ballclubs in the county, were torn by the athletics.religion roadblock.

In matches for first place against Jelix and Granite Hills, ECVHS held early leads, yet lost both matches in five dates by simply running out of fuel due to fasting.

According to a recent report from Associated Press:

Muslims around the world will soon bid farewell to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and start celebrating the holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Eid is marked with congregational prayers and festivities that typically include family visits, gatherings and new clothes.

This year, Eid will come just after the Israel-Hamas war crosses the somber milestone of having stretched on for half a year. During Ramadan, as Muslims around the world savored the traditions of their diverse communities, advocacy, prayers and charity for Palestinians in Gaza were high on the minds of many.

Eid al-Fitr is an Islamic holiday marking the end of Ramadan, the month when devout Muslims fast daily from dawn to sunset. Ramadan is a time of increased worship, charity, and good deeds.

Now that Eid celebrations are underway, El Cajon Valley rebounds from its five-set loss to Helix bywhipping the Highlanders in thrrr srtd which took less than 70 minutes to complete, winning easily 25-21, 25-20, 25-14.

Thus, the Braves; home match with Granite Hills on Mon., apr. 22, will could be for the Grossmont Hills League championship.

ECVHS is preparing for the match with a current winning streak of three straight. After whipping Helix on Wednesday, they bounced back to take Thursday’s match with University City in four sets.

Against the Highlanders, Braves juniors Kaden Porter and Mustafa Sarferaz led with 9 kills, while sophomore Sayed Hashimi added 8 putaways.

ECVHS also posted seven service aces to keep Helix off-balanced all evening, making for a completely different outcome after falling 15-13 in the fifth during their unutual GHL meeting.

The Braves then went to 17-8 overall by topping the Centurions, 25-20, 17-25, 25-18, 25-20.

Sarferaz, who play almost any position, dominated as the outside hitter with a season-best 21 kills.

Sophomore Sayed Hashimi added 15 kills on just 32 attemots, just one point short of a solid .500 spiking percentage.

Meanwhile, Porter also collected 15 kills.

Thus, El Cajon Valley’s match with Granite Hills should proe interesting since so many players on both sides are teammates for Coast Volleyball Club.

Along with a long list of Braves, led by Porter, the Eagles feature spiker Lathan Fry, who may be the leading candidate as GHL Player of th Year if they maintain a perfect record in league play.

Granite Hills is the defending CIFSDS Division 3 titlists, but are in D-2 this season. Meanwhile after defeating Clairemont in four sets.