by: Kayla Mitchell and Britt Melinauskas

PR and National Editors

  Senior Portia Zeidler is thrilled to make the most of her final year of volleyball at LGHS as both team captain and a recent commit to the University of Notre Dame. With an exciting season ahead, leading the Girls’ Varsity Team and competing in club volleyball outside of school, Zeidler looks forward to sharing her passion and experience with her teammates. As she cherishes her last moments on the court at LGHS, she is also eagerly preparing for the next chapter of her volleyball journey at Notre Dame.

While Zeidler toured many schools across the country during her college search, she ultimately chose to be a Fighting Irish. Going into recruiting, Zeidler hoped to find a big sports school with strong academics and coaches that foster a solid, supportive team environment. Sharing what factors drew her to Notre Dame, Zeidler explained, “I really liked the atmosphere and team culture. It was very positive, and the coaches focus on bringing in good people as well as good players, so everyone gets along really well.” During her official visit, Zeidler experienced being a part of the Notre Dame program, taking her official pictures, bonding with her future teammates, and attending an exciting football game against USC. Recently, when the  Notre Dame volleyball team traveled to California to play against top programs such as Stanford University and UC Berkeley, Zeidler had the opportunity to watch her future teammates compete intensely against some of the tough opponents she will soon face herself. 

As a middle blocker for Vision and both a middle blocker and opposite hitter for Los Gatos Varsity Volleyball, Zeidler enjoys her front-row positions, finding it rewarding to put away a precise set for a kill and thrilling to make a big block. Zeidler began club volleyball in sixth grade for Stingray Volleyball Club, playing on the blue team, the second team, and advancing to the black team, the first team, in seventh grade. In eighth grade, Zeidler made the transition to the elite Vision Volleyball Club, competing for 14 Blue the second team, and has since played on Gold, the first team, for 15s, 16s, 17s, and now her final season, 18 Gold. For the past three years, Zeidler’s team has qualified for the Open Division, the highest level of competition, placing 35th in 2023, 9th in 2024, and 23rd in 2025 nationally. The team is hoping for a top finish at this year’s Girls Junior National Championships. Zeidler emphasized their top ten finish in 2024, commenting, “The year before, it was not the case and [we] did not do well in Open. It was something like we’d been really working hard on [and] we pushed ourselves.”

Although Zeidler cherishes her time on the court throughout pre-season, league, and post-season, her most memorable moment of the year is Los Gatos varsity’s annual tradition of toilet-papering the freshmen. The activity provides a welcoming introduction to the volleyball community as it is a well-known, fun-filled night of team bonding. As another one of her proudest memories, she recalled, “The Branham game my sophomore year, when we won, but it was very close, and then we went to CCS [Division I] finals” with a packed student section and the team taking another step toward their goal of becoming champions. Overall, Zeidler’s experiences on and off the court highlight her deep connection to the sport and the lasting bonds built through her high school and club volleyball communities.