Maria Claudia Bernal
International School
The Co-operative junior varsity girls volleyball team lost the first set yesterday to the undefeated International girls, then stormed back to take the next two and win the junior varsity girls championship Thursday at International's gym.
At the end some International girls were in tears after losing both their perfect season and the championship. For the little Jaguars it was a heady victory. Coach Misty Skidmore attributed the win to the ability of her charges to "stay focused. Even when we were behind or tied, they still worked at getting three hits each time," and sending the ball back hard and to undefended spots.
Griffin coach Eli Vilar paid tribute to the hard work and discipline that Co-operative employed to improve so much during the season. "They were a lesser team than us at the beginning of the season. We beat them easily twice. But they made themselves better than us." Her team, she said, suffered from overconfidence.For all that, International played well throughout, and appeared formidable indeed in the first set, which was really tight. You could see each point being slowly ground out, with both teams being cheered on by a large crowd of fans. After the score was tied at 16-16 International got some strong serving to close out the set 25-21.
It looked as if the Jaguar girls would be sent on their way with praise for a nice effort that wasn't quite enough. The team apparently decided, however, that it would write a different ending. They seemed to gather strength.
There was a tremendous rally with the score tied at 12-12, in which the ball passed over the net more than 20 times, with many dramatic saves. Co-operative won the rally, and that seemed to be a turning point. The Jaguars then built a lead -- one point, two points, three points. The confidence of the Griffins seemed to crack.
The Jaguars extended their lead to four points at 21-17, then 23-19, and finally 25-19 when International hit a return long.
It marked the first time the International girls had lost a set all season.
However, they appeared to rally at the start of the tie-breaker and got out to a 5-2 lead. But the Jaguars fought back to tie, and at 6-6 Jaguar Ana Paula Peredo took the ball at the service line, and powered her team to a 10-6 lead that they never gave up, finally winning 15-11.
The line-up for the champion Jaguars: Sofia Sotelo, Brooke Hill, Audrey Saucedo, Luciana Adriazola, Ana Paula Peredo, Hailey White, Maria Velasco, Maria Jose Viacava, Estefania Sauto, Nicole Arias, Nicole Broesma, Carla Limpias.
For the second-place Griffins: Diana Melgar, Flavia Nostas, Beatriz Nallar, Maria Gutierrez, Lila Dueri, Laura Adriazola, Belen Rey, Diana Salman, Natalie Dajbura.
(PHOTO ABOVE) Take that! Griffin Beatriz Nallar (7) tries to slap in a point, while Jaguar Carla Limpias (16) goes up to block. And so it went.
Jonatan Muñoz, Interntional
