High-Flying Hassan: Junior off to giant start at net for North Andover volleyball

NORTH ANDOVER 鈥� A stranger in a new town, walking into North Andover High School as a freshman, Malik Hassan relied on three words to make friends and find his niche:

鈥淐all of Duty.鈥�

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Malik Speaks on Knights' Special Senior Class

It鈥檚 no secret that the 10 seniors on the roster have been key to the Knights鈥� emergence as an MVC volleyball power. Here鈥檚 what junior standout Malik Hassan had to say about them:

Prady Mistry, libero: 鈥淲e鈥檙e a family, and he鈥檚 like my big brother.鈥�

Cayden Holt, outside hitter: 鈥淗e makes us laugh. He鈥檚 the leader we need him to be.鈥�

Ryan Quinn, outside hitter: 鈥淗e鈥檚 made such a big jump from last year. He puts the ball down.鈥�

Brett Keyo, middle hitter: 鈥淲e got big stuff from Brett in the win over Andover. He always keeps the vibe up on this team.鈥�

Bernardo Oliveira, defensive specialist: 鈥淵ou can tell it in his voice when he wants to win. That keeps me going. It keeps the team going.鈥�

Colin Ross, middle hitter: 鈥淗e鈥檚 just so wise. He always knows the rotation to be in. Colin does Colin stuff and we are better for it.鈥�

Rithwik Minchala, defensive specialist: 鈥淛ust a great teammate. When I鈥檓 tense, he keeps me in it.鈥�

Mason Dowdie, opposite hitter: 鈥淗e鈥檚 got a ton of potential. He believes in me, and I believe in him.鈥�

Pete Tagalog, middle hitter: 鈥淗e鈥檚 the little brother of the team. Very funny. Jolly kid.鈥�

Kevin Tran, setter: 鈥淲e talk a lot, laugh a lot off the court, so it鈥檚 great having Kevin on the team.鈥�

Volleyball Only

Volleyball is the first and only organized sport that North Andover High junior Malik Hassan has ever played.

A noted leaper, he tried a little basketball, but that鈥檚 about it.

鈥淚 played some pickup hoop, but as things picked up with volleyball, that died down,鈥� Hassan said. 鈥淚 have a mini-hoop at my house, and I put on dunk contests with myself. But believe it or not, I can鈥檛 dunk on a real net.鈥�