When Aquiles Montoya (No. 17) was told that his obesity was going to hinder him from playing volleyball, he put on a weight vest, went to the gym and dropped from 257 to 195 pounds within a year.
Montoya recalled a time when he was not in the best shape to play.
“I’ll never forget the day I went to the doctor and was told I was obese,” Montoya said. “I started crying. No shame in saying that. I was obese!”
Montoya, a 19 year-old sophomore and San Ramon native, spoke about his volleyball history, overcoming obesity and his love of Star Wars.
After receiving the news of his obesity, Montoya was only propelled to work harder.
Every day, he would go to Velocity Sports Performance and spend two hours training with a 15-pound weight vest after which he would return to school and attend volleyball practice for another two hours. Montoya restricted his diet by quitting sugar drinks and meals after 9 o’clock.
“I was always a decent volleyball player but I think I got in because I was tall,” Montoya joked.
When deciding to play volleyball, Montoya was fueled by love of a different kind.
“It’s actually a funny story,” he said. “I first went to volleyball camp in seventh grade, and then this girl I liked in high school played volleyball, so I ended up quitting basketball to play volleyball.”
After playing volleyball in high school, Montoya decided he wanted to continue playing at the highest level he could. Wanting to be closer to his family in Ventura, he decided to attend City College after reading an article about the college’s new volleyball coach, Armen Zakarian.
Knowing that Montoya wished to continue playing volleyball, his high school coach spoke to Zakarian and put the two in touch.
“He brings work ethic to the team. He has plans, he’s got all these awesome things going for him,” said the Zakarian.
This year, he admits that he has gained weight again, but this time, he’s gained it in muscle.
“I was really angry and upset when I didn’t get nominated for Second Team All Conference,” he said.
Montoya then resolved to work harder. He began working at Velocity and was allowed to train there for free. When the team’s verticals were tested, Montoya had gained seven inches.
“I feel like I’ve put a lot of effort in into this,” he said.
This season, the men’s volleyball team is not where they would like to be.
“We’ve had ups and downs, and we’ve had so many close matches so it’s been a little tough and it’s shaken our confidence for sure, but we’ve got high hopes,” said Zakarian.
Montoya averages 1.82 kills, a 0.38 hitting percentage, and 1.02 blocks per game. The Vaqueros are fifth in the WSC.
The team doesn’t show its fatigue; in fact, it seems to be livelier than ever. With little rituals like pre-game chants dubbed the “Chin Tikki” or their Sunday bake-offs, Monotya feels like they team is one big family of brothers.
“We take our bake offs very seriously,” Montoya said. “We don’t just take cookie dough out of cans, roll them in balls, and plop them onto the baking pans. You’re disqualified if you do that. We actually make really good stuff like peach cobblers or vanilla brownies.”
Montoya also entertains his teammates with his spot-on Star Wars lightsaber impression. Wielding an invisible light saber, he eagerly shows off a flawless lightsaber sound effect.
“Vvv-zzz. Vvv-zzz,” he says with each imaginary swish. “The team likes it for some reason. It makes them laugh.”
After City College, Montoya hopes to attend CSU Long Beach, CSU Northridge, George Mason, California Baptist, or Grand Canyon University.
