Jahsita Fa’ali’i didn’t even know where Lathrop was before moving to the city over two years ago.
“I came here knowing completely nothing,” she said.
And she didn’t know anybody.
She has since helped put Lathrop High’s girls volleyball team on the map and developed relationships with players and coaches she now considers family.
Fa’ali’i is the Manteca Bulletin All-Area MVP after leading the Spartans’ breakthrough stretch that includes their first-ever league title. She was also named All-Western Athletic Conference MVP, clobbering 256 kills (5.6 per set) in 14 league contests to go with 49 aces and 189 digs.
This once-shy stranger didn’t envision any of this happening following her transfer from Encinal High in Alameda, where she was an All-Western Alameda County Conference first-team selection as a freshman.
“It was a bit hard considering I was new,” Fa’ali’i said. “Over the years I’ve bonded closer and closer with my teammates and got to know more about them. I’m glad everything ended on a good note. They became my family more than my friends.”
Fa’ali’i was the type of player needed for Coach Heather Anderson’s program on the rise. Anderson was in her second year when the 5-foot-9 outside hitter unexpectedly showed up for a summer workout in 2017.
The Spartans were preparing for their final campaign in the competitive Valley Oak League, and although they narrowly missed the playoffs they enjoyed their best season in school history with a 13-9 record while placing fourth in league at 9-5.
Fa’ali’i was a sophomore then, but as the most experienced and skilled player the program has ever had she knew her role would have to expand for the team to continue its ascent.
“It was weird for me,” she said. “Having played club, I’m not used to that kind of attention. I’m not used to being the best player.
“It really pushed me because I wanted us to achieve these goals, and it taught me a lesson of being a good team member inside and outside of volleyball. It just gave me more confidence.”
Lathrop is now in its second year in the WAC.
In 2018, the Spartans finished as runners-up behind Beyer with 12-2 and 14-8 league and overall records. They also qualified for the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs for the first time, falling to Sacramento powerhouse Christian Brothers in a four-set opener. Fa’ali’i was voted All-WAC Offensive Player of the Year.
The standard was raised this past fall.
Lathrop went undefeated in the WAC and finished 23-5. It also got to host a postseason match, a three-game defeat against former VOL rival Kimball. That wasn’t the ideal finish to her three-year run with the Spartans, but Fa’ali’i goes out as one of the school’s most distinguished athletes. 
 “I didn’t think I’d become league MVP, and I couldn’t have done it without the help of my coaches and teammates,” she said. “I am just really glad I was able to leave a mark at Lathrop High and to do it with such a great team.”
Fa’ali’i is still playing volleyball at the club level and plans on continuing her career at Delta College with aspirations of transferring to a four-year university.
“I’m very passionate about it,” Fa’ali’i said. “I’ll keep playing for as long as I can.”