BRINGING THE HEAT -- Eagle Andres Larsen (7) prepares to pound the ball floorward.Jonatan Muñoz, International
Eagles win squeaker against Griffins
By Maria Claudia Bernal
International School
The Christian Learning boys varsity volleyball team defeated International in three sets in a furiously contested match played in the Griffins gym Tuesday afternoon.
As the first set began Christian Learning made the first few points, taking an early lead 7-4. As the game continued, the Griffins made some pretty good strikes, which put them back on track. International began to catch up with Christian Learning, and tied the game at 8-8.
By Maria Claudia Bernal
International School
The Christian Learning boys varsity volleyball team defeated International in three sets in a furiously contested match played in the Griffins gym Tuesday afternoon.
As the first set began Christian Learning made the first few points, taking an early lead 7-4. As the game continued, the Griffins made some pretty good strikes, which put them back on track. International began to catch up with Christian Learning, and tied the game at 8-8. __________
JUMP BALL --
Eagle Cesar Flores (12) and Griffin Juan Narvaez (5) battle for control.(Corrected 10/12)
Ruth Nyquist, Christian Learning
The game went on like this, with the momentum going back and forth. Christian Learning would get ahead, then the Griffins would catch up, making the game very entertaining.
But after the Griffins had come within one point of another tie at 21-20, the Eagles put on a closing spurt and won the set 25-20, concluding with spikes by Danny Canaviri and Jesse Hallock, plus an emphatic rejection of an attempted Griffin spike by Canaviri.
In the second set Christian Learning again took the lead at the start, but it was just a matter of time before the Griffins caught up with them at 16-16. Once again the momentum swung back and forth, but this time the Griffins had the upper hand. They won 25-22, forcing a third set.
The Griffins had only six players in uniform, leaving them no substitutes, while the Eagles had a full complement of 12 players, seeming to give them the advantage in a long match.
However, it was the Griffins who seemed to have their energy turned on as the third set began, and they took an early lead. Nevertheless, the two teams were soon tied at 8-8.
They battled evenly, with ties at 11-11, 12-12, and 13-13. However, at that point the Eagles took the next two points on a strong serve by Andres Larsen followed by an artful lob by Nicolas SWmith into an undefended back corner to win the set, and take the match 15-13.
Jaguars' power, consistency beats Knights
The Cooperative boys varsity volleyball team posted a straight sets victory over Cambridge in their home gym Tuesday afternoon.
The Jaguars won by the lopsided counts of 25-8 and 25-12, but the match was more closely contested than the scores might indicate. The story of the match was not that the Knights were that bad, but that the Jaguars were that good.
The points at the beginning of the match were decided on long rallies, during which both teams made many outstanding plays to keep the ball going. However, the Jaguars seemed to never miss, no matter how well placed Cambridge's hits might be, and forged an 8-2 advantage, and basically kept that ratio up until they won the set 25-8.
The Knights did marginally better in the second set, in which Cooperative substituted freely. The score was 25-12 in favor of the Jaguars.
All told Cambridge put up a respectable fight, especially considering that two of their starting players had played the junior varsity game earlier.
But the story was the impressive play of the Jaguars. They moved the ball around with exquisite precision and seemed able to retrieve almost anything Cambridge could throw at them. They repeatedly set up their big men for hard smashes at the net and wore the Knights down with seemingly relentless pressure.
