JV tourneys feature potent match-ups
By David Boldt
SCISL Weblog
The junior varsity championship games coming up Thursday (October 18) for volleyball and Friday (October 19) for soccer offer some exciting match-ups with lots of opportunities for vengeance.
The JV volleyball championships will be held at International, and the JV soccer championship at Co-operative. (See schedule at right.)
The junior varsity championship pits the team that finished first in the league against the team that finished second. There is no full-scale playoff in which all four teams participate as in the varsity playoff tournaments. This is the first year that the league has had a full-season junior varsity program that included all four schools.
Volleyball: Can perfection be preserved?
In both boys and girls volleyball championship games International’s teams will be seeking to retain their undefeated status against determined foes.
The International girls would seem to have the easier assignment. They face Co-operative, a team they have beaten twice this year in straight sets.
However, the scores have gotten closer as the year has gone on, and the Jaguars are coming off a very convincing win against third-place Christian Learning.
The first time the two finalists played in early September, International prevailed easily, 25-14 and 25-13. Things got a little closer in the first set of the match the teams played in early October, with International winning 25-16. And the second set was a real slugfest, with Co-operative succumbing only after a major struggle, 25-22.
The Jaguars will be hoping that the trend continues.
Both times that the International and the Christian Learning junior varsity boys have met the result has been a knock-down, drag-out fight going three sets. International won both times, but it was never easy.
In the most recent meeting, which was back on September 10 at Christian Learning, the Eagles took the first set 26-24. They suffered some serving lapses in the second, and lost 25-16. The deciding match was fought out point by point. The teams tied at 13-all and 14-all. International won 16-14 after a disputed delay of game call took a point and the serve away from the Eagles, the sort of thing that can cause a team to seek revenge.
Soccer: A rematch and a real test
Co-operative and International have played two close, hard-fought games, with the Jaguars winning both -- 2-1 on September 6 and 2-0 earlier this month. However, the Griffins have a more potent offense than these scores would indicate, and will hope to put it on display in the championship game.
Co-operative has the league’s top scorer, Santiago Paz, who has 8 goals. However, the next two players on the list are Griffins: Santiago Rosado and Harold Garay, with five goals each.
Both teams have scored over 20 goals during the six-game season, and both turned in convincing wins in their final games of the season. International defeated Cambridge 3-0 while Co-operative dispatched Christian Learning 5-0.
The Co-operative junior varsity girls own two victories over their opponent, Cambridge, but the results pose something of a puzzle. The two games were played within a week of each other way back in mid-September and present something of a contrast. (One was a game postponed from the opening week of the season.)
Co-operative won the first game 3-0, which sounds convincing until one is informed that Cambridge was playing with only eight players.
When the two met a week later with Cambridge at more or less at full strength, the game was decided by a single second-half goal, 1-0.
In the championship game Cambridge will presumably be seeking to show it can give Co-operative a real test – and win this time.
