Players from rival volleyball teams huddled beneath the net Friday, heads bowed and arms around each other. Blue-and-black jerseys mingled with green-and-yellow ones on either side of the net during a moment of silence before their game.
The teams from Carson and Narbonne high schools joined in a prayer for Justin Uy, the Carson team member who died Wednesday, seven days after he was shot outside an elementary school.
Before the game, seniors from Carson stood side by side at the end of the court, each sporting a shirt with Uy’s name and jersey number, and the phrase “Conquer All” printed above a horseshoe, part of Carson’s school logo.
• PHOTOS: Scenes from from the Justin Uy memorial before the volleyball match
A short time later, students from Narbonne brought a blue-black-and-green lei to the court floor and presented it to Uy’s brother, Andrew. The lei was woven with a mix of the two schools’ colors as a show of support from Narbonne to the Uy family.
The memorial was especially important for Uy’s teammates, said Carson boys volleyball coach Ralph Mertens.
“This is kind of their outlet, this is how they can release the energy that, as guys, they want to hold in,” Mertens said.
The short memorial for Uy was equally important, however, to the larger volleyball community in the area.
“(There is) something about the volleyball community that transcends the sport,” Mertens said. “It just strengthens the bond that we already have.”
Stefanie Mahaley, coach of the Carson girls volleyball team, said the memorial is proof that the compassion within the volleyball community moves players and supporters past school rivalries.
“I think it’s good for us to represent, during times like this … that we’re not just rivals … we’re so much more than that,” Mahaley said.
Students from Narbonne echoed Mahaley’s sentiment. Sophomore Griselda Perez said the fact that Uy came from a rival school doesn’t matter — the memorial was a show of respect for a fellow athlete.
“We respect all volleyball players, it doesn’t matter (what team they’re on),” Perez said. “We learn to love the sport, so we know that when something like that happens to one of our teammates, they would do the same for us.”
The Carson team has received support from throughout the league, Mertens said. At Locke High School in Los Angeles, for example, students erected a large “24” — Uy’s jersey number.
Another memorial is planned for April 26, following the team’s final home game of the season at 4 p.m.
Uy was shot several times in the early hours of April 13 while standing outside Dolores Street Elementary School in Carson. He was critically injured, and spent a week on life support at County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center before he died Wednesday evening.
Following Uy’s death, homicide detectives took over the investigation for Uy’s assailant. Thus far, detectives have no descriptions of a suspect.
Anyone with information should call the homicide bureau of the Carson sheriff’s station at 323-890-5500.
