PUSHING THROUGH -- Eagle Andre Larsen (9) puts the ball past Griffing Christopher Saltzieder (7) Jonatan Muñoz, International
The Force was with them
Eagle stun Griffins with 2-0 whipping
The Christian Learning boys volleyball team, seeming to ride a tide of momentum that carried over from the Eagle girls victory, scored an overwhelming victory Friday over an International team had previously been unbeaten this season.
The match had looked like it would be another knock-down, drag-out battle between these two teams who had played two close matches during the regular season, both of which International had won.
But after the score had reached 15-15 in the opening set, the Eagles seemed to explode, winning the first set 25-16, and then taking the second set in even more authoritative fashion, 25-11.
The battle was fought largely in the two meters on either side of the net, and it was played in the manner that Mr. Volley must have hoped it would be when he invented the game.
In most games in this League up to now it has been sufficient to either hit the ball hard, or hit it to an open spot on the court. In this game it was usually necessary to do both -- hit it hard and at an empty spot.
Christian Learning's big men -- Captain Jeff Stabler and Esteban Eguez -- were up to the task from the start. Spikes by one or the other accounted for five of the Eagles first eight points, and the proportion probably stayed around that average for the rest of the match.
But just as important for the Eagles were the stellar defensive efforts made by Danny Canviri, Paul Estes, Kyle Swope and others.
The International front men, including Rodrigo Bernal, the team captain, Christopher Saltzieder, Martin Gonzales, and Jose Maria Landivar were hitting the ball as hard as the Eagles at the start of the game.
But after the teams were tied at 15-15 the Griffins seemed to wear down, perhaps discouraged at how hard it was to win a point against the Eagles.
At one point when the teams were still battling on even terms Bernal hit three great spikes in a row, and on the third one he did win the point, which then made the score 13-13.
But the effort apparently took its toll. In the second set he started to miss long, and was given a rest.
The Eagles, for their part, seemed to pick up momentum defensively as time passed. In the second set it seemed that International couldn't buy a piece of undefended court on the Eagle side of the net.
One shot had seemed headed for an open spot in the back corner of the court, but Stabler raced across the court and backfisted it back across the net.
And so it went.
Inexorably, it seemed, Christian Learning forged a larger and larger lead: 10-4, . . . 14-5, . . . 18-6. The Griffins made heroic efforts to get things going their way again, but somehow seemed to get increasingly tentative.
Finally the score was 23-9 and two more Stabler spikes sealed the deal at 25-11.
The line-up for the Eagles was Estes, Nicolas Smith, Swope, Andre Larsen, Alejandro Garcia, Canaviri, Eguez, Stabler, Franklin Chou, and Tomas Somare.
The line-up for International: Bernal, Landivar, Juan Novaez, Gonzales, Saltzieder, Mauricio Nostas, Renato Guzman, Francisco Gonzales, Jan Ivo Sochtig, Maykol Villavicencio, Ernando Tesch, and David Huang.
Eagle stun Griffins with 2-0 whipping
The Christian Learning boys volleyball team, seeming to ride a tide of momentum that carried over from the Eagle girls victory, scored an overwhelming victory Friday over an International team had previously been unbeaten this season.
The match had looked like it would be another knock-down, drag-out battle between these two teams who had played two close matches during the regular season, both of which International had won.
But after the score had reached 15-15 in the opening set, the Eagles seemed to explode, winning the first set 25-16, and then taking the second set in even more authoritative fashion, 25-11.
The battle was fought largely in the two meters on either side of the net, and it was played in the manner that Mr. Volley must have hoped it would be when he invented the game.
In most games in this League up to now it has been sufficient to either hit the ball hard, or hit it to an open spot on the court. In this game it was usually necessary to do both -- hit it hard and at an empty spot.
Christian Learning's big men -- Captain Jeff Stabler and Esteban Eguez -- were up to the task from the start. Spikes by one or the other accounted for five of the Eagles first eight points, and the proportion probably stayed around that average for the rest of the match.
But just as important for the Eagles were the stellar defensive efforts made by Danny Canviri, Paul Estes, Kyle Swope and others.
The International front men, including Rodrigo Bernal, the team captain, Christopher Saltzieder, Martin Gonzales, and Jose Maria Landivar were hitting the ball as hard as the Eagles at the start of the game.
But after the teams were tied at 15-15 the Griffins seemed to wear down, perhaps discouraged at how hard it was to win a point against the Eagles.
At one point when the teams were still battling on even terms Bernal hit three great spikes in a row, and on the third one he did win the point, which then made the score 13-13.
But the effort apparently took its toll. In the second set he started to miss long, and was given a rest.
The Eagles, for their part, seemed to pick up momentum defensively as time passed. In the second set it seemed that International couldn't buy a piece of undefended court on the Eagle side of the net.
One shot had seemed headed for an open spot in the back corner of the court, but Stabler raced across the court and backfisted it back across the net.
And so it went.
Inexorably, it seemed, Christian Learning forged a larger and larger lead: 10-4, . . . 14-5, . . . 18-6. The Griffins made heroic efforts to get things going their way again, but somehow seemed to get increasingly tentative.
Finally the score was 23-9 and two more Stabler spikes sealed the deal at 25-11.
The line-up for the Eagles was Estes, Nicolas Smith, Swope, Andre Larsen, Alejandro Garcia, Canaviri, Eguez, Stabler, Franklin Chou, and Tomas Somare.
The line-up for International: Bernal, Landivar, Juan Novaez, Gonzales, Saltzieder, Mauricio Nostas, Renato Guzman, Francisco Gonzales, Jan Ivo Sochtig, Maykol Villavicencio, Ernando Tesch, and David Huang.
SAVORING VICTORY -- Eagles take possession of their championship trophy. Team captain Jeff Stabler puckers up to kiss it. Jonatan Muñoz, International
