Faith Lutheran volleyball team carries on after losing teammate

Christina Portaro wasn't in the gym Wednesday for her volleyball team's match, but her presence had never been stronger.

Christina, a 16-year-old junior at Faith Lutheran Jr/Sr High School, died Saturday in an ATV accident in Brian Head, Utah. The match, a road game at Shadow Ridge High School, was the first for Faith Lutheran since her death.

The crowd, players and coaches stood together for 30 seconds of silence before the game to honor her. Several on the team wiped their cheeks dry during the walk back to the bench.

Every player on the Shadow Ridge team wore black armbands that read "CP#13," prompting Faith Lutheran coach Amy Fisher to call the Shadow Ridge players and coaches a "class act."

Despite missing Christina, one of the starting middle hitters on the varsity team, Faith dominated the game, winning in three straight sets. After scoring the final point to win the match, Faith celebrated the girl they were playing for.

With their arms around one another in a huddle, they jumped up and down together shouting "Chrissy P! Chrissy P! Chrissy P! Chrissy P!"

The team might not have even played that day if not for Christina's father, Richard Portaro.

The girls felt guilty, as if they shouldn't play out of respect for their teammate, Portaro said. On a conference call with them a few days earlier while in Utah, he set them straight.

"I said, 'Girls, we've just got to do this,' " Portaro said after the game. " 'You've got to ask yourself, what would Chris want us to do? You know what the answer is: Get out there and kick somebody's butt.' "

Portaro attended Wednesday's game with about 100 other Faith Lutheran supporters and roughly the same number of fans for the other team.

He had some words of inspiration for the team in the locker room before they took the court, which he recalled later.

" 'I'm not telling you that you've got to win this for Chris, but you've got to play hard for Chrissy and yourself. As long as you can say I left everything on the floor, I gave it my all. And I personally want to look at every single one of you and check your arms and your elbows, and if you don't have scrapes on them, it's going to piss me off.' "

That last bit got them laughing, something they really needed, he said.

For Portaro, it wasn't a hard decision to attend the game, but it became increasingly difficult to sit through.

"During the game there were a lot of times I kept looking for number 13," he said. "It was hard once I got into watching the game, and it's hard right now because I've got to go home without her."

Christina is the second child that Richard Portaro and his wife, Cynthia, have lost in less than six months. Their 22-year-old son, Michael, was fatally shot March 30 during a robbery outside the Tenaya Creek Brewery.

Portaro spoke to the team in a teary-eyed huddle after the game.

"He just said that he was very proud of us for coming out tonight and playing the way we did," Fisher said. "He told us that Christina's in heaven, jumping up and down, clapping."

The team's first home game is at 5 p.m. tonight against rival Palo Verde High School. It's a "black-out" game, a tradition where attendees are encouraged to where black for the school's biggest matches.

Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students and seniors 65 or older. Children 6 and younger are free.

In lieu of flowers, Faith Lutheran suggests donating to the Christina Portaro Memorial Fund at Bank of Nevada to support the family.

Viewing will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Saturday at Palm Mortuary on Cheyenne Avenue east of Buffalo Drive. A celebration of Christina's life will be at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Faith Lutheran's chapel on Hualapai Way south of Charleston Boulevard.

Before the Shadow Ridge team left the gym Wednesday, Portaro stopped them, introduced himself and thanked them for honoring his daughter.

"You're part of our family now," he told them, his voice breaking.

Several on the team gave him their armbands, which he put on his left arm.

Richard Portaro, like so many times before, walked out of the gym with CP#13 at his side.

Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 224-5524.