Griffins celebrate victory. Scoreboard shows 25-10 second set win.Jonatan Muñoz, International School
Defeat Co-operative 25-14, 25-10
Griffins tune up for championship game
From coaches reports
The undefeated International varsity girls volleyball team barely had to break a sweat as it defeated a clearly outclassed Co-operative team in straight sets Monday in the International gym.
The Lady Griffins took the first set 25-14, and the second 25-10 before a handful of spectators.
They were able to polish their technique and work on their team play without the stress of worrying about losing.
Serving was again a strong point for International, and the service of 11th grader Melissa Roca is becoming the most feared weapon operating in Bolivia since the death of the Sundance Kid.
She makes a quick forward dash to the service line while uncoiling her arm like a tennis racket. The ball then can spin in either direction, or even knuckle, while traveling with astonishing speed and hitting open spots with surgical precision.
Roca started serving in the first game with score at a relatively respectable 7-5 in favor of the Griffins. When she was finally stopped the score was 13-5, and the Griffin lead never diminished.
But serving was only part of it.The Griffins worked together with remarkable precision, able to handle almost anything the Jaguars could throw at them, and convert it into a high velocity return.
They rarely let balls fall between them in the mistaken belief that a teammate is going to handle it. The players always go for the ball -- almost to excess. Once when a ball did land in an open spot, three Griffins nearly collided in the effort to dig it out.
The line-up for International: Fabiana Murillo, Melissa Roca, Laura Chavez, Simone Ahuile, Adriana Ocampo, Flavia Nostas, Beatriz Nallar, Soraya Dajbura, Maris Gutierrez.
For Co-operative: Mariana Perez, Alexia Handal, Cecilia Aponte, Veronica Richter, Ana Paula Justiniano, Aldana Roda, Nicole Elias, Karla Flores, Ximena Guzman, Nabila Farah, and Arecela Sauto.
PHOTO: Perfecting her form. Griffin launches a hard-hit serve.
Griffins tune up for championship game
From coaches reports
The undefeated International varsity girls volleyball team barely had to break a sweat as it defeated a clearly outclassed Co-operative team in straight sets Monday in the International gym.
The Lady Griffins took the first set 25-14, and the second 25-10 before a handful of spectators.
They were able to polish their technique and work on their team play without the stress of worrying about losing.
Serving was again a strong point for International, and the service of 11th grader Melissa Roca is becoming the most feared weapon operating in Bolivia since the death of the Sundance Kid.
She makes a quick forward dash to the service line while uncoiling her arm like a tennis racket. The ball then can spin in either direction, or even knuckle, while traveling with astonishing speed and hitting open spots with surgical precision.
Roca started serving in the first game with score at a relatively respectable 7-5 in favor of the Griffins. When she was finally stopped the score was 13-5, and the Griffin lead never diminished.
But serving was only part of it.The Griffins worked together with remarkable precision, able to handle almost anything the Jaguars could throw at them, and convert it into a high velocity return.
They rarely let balls fall between them in the mistaken belief that a teammate is going to handle it. The players always go for the ball -- almost to excess. Once when a ball did land in an open spot, three Griffins nearly collided in the effort to dig it out.
The line-up for International: Fabiana Murillo, Melissa Roca, Laura Chavez, Simone Ahuile, Adriana Ocampo, Flavia Nostas, Beatriz Nallar, Soraya Dajbura, Maris Gutierrez.
For Co-operative: Mariana Perez, Alexia Handal, Cecilia Aponte, Veronica Richter, Ana Paula Justiniano, Aldana Roda, Nicole Elias, Karla Flores, Ximena Guzman, Nabila Farah, and Arecela Sauto.
PHOTO: Perfecting her form. Griffin launches a hard-hit serve.
Jonatan Muñoz, International School
Eagles give Knights a quick whacking
From coaches reports
A recharged and much more aggressive Christian Learning girls varsity volleyball team got Cambridge down early and never let the Knights get back up Monday afternoon in a match at the Eagles gym.
The Lady Eagles won the first game 25-18, and the took the second by the marginally more decisive count of 25-17.
Christian Learning coach Alejandra Salto was well pleased with the performance of her team, and cited particularly the return to form of Sabrina Hallock, who has been hampered with an ankle injury almost all season, and hasn't played for two weeks. (She is still listed as "doubtful"for tomorrow's girls soccer semi-final.)
Eduardo "Presi" de la Riva, the Cambridge coach, said his team suffered from a serious lack of concentration, but also praised the Eagles for their outstanding team play.
There had been some question as to whether the "good"or the "bad" Cambridge team would show up for the match, and clearly the Cambridge girls were not at their best, but the story of the game was the way the Eagle girls were whacking the ball.
Hallock, a senior, and 10th grader Kaylynn Lampen, the blonde twin towers of the Eagles forward wall, took turns taking nifty sets from senior Roxy Jien (among others), and then either firing an accurate spike, or adroitly tipping the ball to a vulnerable spot.
The Knights never really got going. In the second game the Eagles moved to an 18-12 lead, and of cruised in from there. Senior Nan Jordan was a standout for the Knights in a losing cause, but by the end of the game she was pressing too hard, apparently trying to turn the game around by herself, and missing.
The match was a sharp contrast to the previous meetings of the two teams, which they had split with a victory apiece. Both matches went three sets and were fiercely contested.
The large, enthusiastic crowd of over 50 students, parents and faculty didn't seem to mind at all, however, that the game wasn't more exciting.
The question on everyone's mind at the end was whether this new, improved Christian Learning team could be a match for undefeated International, against whom the Eagles have not won a set this year.
The answer seemed to be a definite maybe.
The line-up for the winning Eagles was Tabitha Malloy, Kely Friesen, Sabrina Hallock, Kaylynn Lampen, Hannah Moss, Hannah Swindoll, Alejandra Valencia, Melisa Friesen, Jerusha Hanish, Roxy Jien.
For the losing Knights: Nan Jordan, Helen Young, Mariana Escaño, Valeria Escaño, Andrea Saba, Lourdes Justinano, Ana Saavedra, and Vania Rueda.
