Norwalk’s Sanchez helps club volleyball team pick up major tournament championship

Norwalk High volleyball star Mirei Sanchez, third from left, was recognized by the Norwalk City Council for her accomplishment with the Seal Beach Volleyball Club. From left to right, Rick Ramirez, Councilmember, Ana Valencia, Councilmember, Sanchez, Margarita Rios, Mayor, Tony Ayala, Vice Mayor, and Jennifer Perez, Councilmember.

August 27, 2024

Norwalk High and the Seal Beach Volleyball Club are glad that Mirei Sanchez chose that sport instead of her first choice. Not only has the sophomore made an impact for the Lancers in her brief high school career, but she has also done the same for her club team in one season, bringing home some hardware from a major tournament early last month.

The 6’1” outside hitter and middle blocker is one of 11 players on the Seal Beach 15-Under Black team that won the 2024 USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship, held July 3-11 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. The team was one of 48 clubs situated in the 15 Freedom Division. The tournament crowned close to 30 champions covering four age groups; there were seven divisions in each age group from 14-Under to 17-Under.

Hard to believe that Sanchez hasn’t been playing volleyball for a long time, but that’s the case as she began her athletic career as a softball pitcher at the age of six in T-Ball. Sanchez played softball for seven years before settling down with volleyball.

WINNING TEAM: Sanchez with her teammates receiving the gold medal.

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“To be honest, I quit softball because I was sick of pitching 24/7,” said Sanchez. “So I was like, ‘let me try this sport that I played in private school’, and I kind of enjoyed it. When I got into it, I was like, ‘this seems fun’.”

Her first position was middle blocker, and her coaches and teammates taught her how to hit, pass and set. She said she was intrigued and when her team went to nationals, she knew that volleyball was the right sport for her. Sanchez, who was 5’9” or 5’10” when she began volleyball, remembered that it took only a month into her time with her previous club team, ICON, at 12-years old before she knew she could be successful in it. The ICON Volleyball Club hails from Whittier and nearby communities. Sanchez was with that club for two years.

“I realized that wanting to hit the ball was my sport,” she continued. “Wanting to get up there, block and do everything…I just enjoyed it, and I had to go out there and do it.”

Her current club team, won two matches on July 8 and went 2-1 the next day, falling to Sky High Adidas out of Crystal Lake, IL 22-25, 25-21, 12-15. The Seal Beach Volleyball Club 15 Black then won three matches on July 10 and three more the next day, including a 25-22, 25-22 sweep over the Houston Skyline. Sanchez’ team went 21-3 in sets played, the most victories by any team in the 15 Freedom Division. Sanchez and her team stayed off the Las Vegas Strip to reduce the distractions that comes with visiting or playing in Sin City and spent most of her time in the hotel room with her friends and members of another Seal Beach Volleyball Club team. She said that there were 250-300 club volleyball teams in the tournament.

“The moment I walked into [the Mandalay Bay Convention Center], I was like, ‘we have to get this gold medal; I want this gold medal’,” she thought. “All of us wanted it.”

Sanchez admitted she was off a bit on the first day of the tournament because the team knew it had to wait until the afternoon of each day to play its pool play and bracket matches. But after a team meeting with head coach Maria Fattal on the first day, the team knew what it what it had to do and regrouped. The 15 Black team is one of 19 teams in the program.

As the lone freshman during the regular season with Norwalk, Sanchez had 169 kills and 42 blocks, both second for the Lancers behind current senior Samantha Munoz, and led them in hitting percentage (.318). This season, she continues to be a big part of a Lancers team that aspires to make another deep run in the CIF-Southern Section playoffs.

“I really thought I wasn’t going to make varsity, to be honest,” said Sanchez. “I saw videos of me back then as a freshman and I was like, ‘wow, I changed this much; I was so slow back then and not as strong. Now that I see myself [this season], I keep thinking that I’m not strong enough to play with higher levels. Getting to play with the seniors [who graduated], it was fun; I miss them. I wanted to help them more and probably make it past the quarterfinals and see if we could get [a CIF championship]. But sadly, we couldn’t. So I’m hoping this year I can push for that and get first place, or second place in CIF.”

Norwalk head coach Paola Nava and her assistant, Enrique Galicia, said she saw the athleticism out of Sanchez and that’s why she was on the varsity team as a freshman.

“Yes, she’s tall, but she wasn’t that dimensional player as far as she can serve, she can pass, she can set,” Nava continued. “She can definitely swing at a ball, and we knew that she was going to be young. We knew that her IQ in serving wasn’t completely there, but we knew that with time, she would get smarter. We knew that it was a work in progress, and we definitely see it now that she’s playing all around. She has a lot of learning and growing to do, and we’re excited to see that.”