By MariaClaudia Bernal
International School
The tide of battle shifted twice before the International boys junior varsity volleyball team was able to claim the championship in an epic match against Christian Learning at the International gym Thursday.
The Griffins cruised to an easy win in the first set, then the Eagles won the second set with even great ease, after which International came back to win the deciding set.
"That's volleyball," said Eagles coach Bob Friesen, referring to the way the game had shifted. He was not unhappy with his team's overall performance. "The bumps and hits we were making in the third set were some of the best we've done all year. They played well."
Griffin coach Eli Vilar said she had made the tactical error of making too many substitutions at the beginning of the second set, and then when things started to unravel the team was not able to pull itself together until the third set. "In volleyball if you start to make mistakes, you get nervous, and you make more mistakes."
Things started out with the Eagles being the team that was making mistakes, clearly suffering from championship game jitters. Twice Eagle players unsuccessfully tried to field Griffin serves that were clearly headed out, and there were several bad serves as Eagle players tried too hard to smoke one in.
International, which has a lot of players with potential, was playing well. It fashioned a big lead, winning 20-9 at one point, before Christian Learning rallied to close the gap at the end to 25-19.
The teams then changed side for the second sets -- and roles. The Eagles stopped making unforced errors. The Griffins started making them. Christian Learning rapidly built a lead, and was ahead 22-10 as the game went into its final phase. The Eagles won 25-14, and looked ready to pull off an upset, much as the Co-operative girls had done earlier in the afternoon.
The gym was now full of excitement, with everyone cheering. The two teams battled relentlessly at the start, but International seemed to be gaining the edge. A couple of kills by Eagle Andre Larsen closed the gap to 8-7 in favor of International, but after that the Griffins showed that when they play up to their potential they are unbeatable.
They pulled away, aided by some strong serving, finally triumphing 15-8. On the last point an Eagle tried valiantly to save the day by kicking the ball straight up so high it hit the ceiling of the gym.
The line-up for the champion Griffins: Juan Sebastian Narvaez, Lucas Ribeiro, Carlos Velasco, Alejandro Saldana, Luis Felipe Quiroga, Francisco Gonzales, Victor Wang, Rodrigo Anglarill, and Harold Garay.
For the runner-up Eagles: Andre Larsen, Ji Hun Chun, Nicols Smith, Pablo Oh, Jesse Mann, Taylan Schroeder, Alex Valencia, Cesar Flores.
(PHOTO ABOVE) Eagle Andre Larsen hammers home a point-winning spike in the third set -- but it wasn't enough.
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! Griffin JV boys and Jaguar JV girls wear their gold medals proudly. The coaches (at right in both pictures) are Eli Vilar for International and Misty Skidmore for Co-operative.
Jonatan Muñoz, International School
