JV Girls Volleyball Championship Game

GLEE CLUB -- Victorious Griffins (including Coach Eli Vilar, center) embrace after taking final point. Jonatan Muñoz, International

Griffins outlast Jaguars, win 2-1

Sung Eun Song
International School
 The International girls varsity volleyball team snatched a dramatic victory over Cooperative, winning the championship of JV girls volleyball.
 It was a thrilling match from start to finish because nobody dared guess which team would be the winner. The two teams were almost evenly matched, but finally International won a come-from-behind victory. The game was played at the International gym which was heated up with the shouts of many spectators.

   The first set was full of dramatic snapshots. At the beginning, International took the lead by 6-1. Ciara . Harriague of Griffins stood out for her brilliant serving skill. Renata  Maggi was also an outstanding player who received the ball with stability and attacked with great tactical skill. The Jaguars star was Maria Paola Aquirre, who hit the ball hard and accurately, taking full advantage of her height. She was a big factor enabling the  Jaguars to catch up with the Griffins in the middle of the first set, when the Jaguars tied the score by 10-10.
    From that moment, the long, emotionally intense rallies began. There was one breathtaking moment performed by the Jaguar girls. Harriague of International lightly hit a ball that slipped off to the Cooperative side of the net. The ball nearly hit the ground for a Griffin point, but Aquirre narrowly kept  the ball alive, falling to the floor in her effort to reach it.
     Then, Griffin Fernanda Gutierrez hit a slashing cross-court return, heading directly at Aquirre who was still  on the floor. Dramatically, from her fallen position, Aguirre set the ball up to Tamara Paz in the middle and Paz spiked the ball hard, gaining the point for the Jaguars. The audience applauded both teams for their passionate play as they continued to trade points in long rallies. However, International girls made several mistakes in the last minutes and Jaguars won the first set by 25-23.

 The second set was close as well, but this time the Griffins took control. The score was tied until 3-3, but soon, Griffins built an eight-point margin 12-4, and that difference lasted until 16-8. Pamela Suarez was the biggest contributor to the the Griffins dominance, showing a lot of different moves. She seemed to know when to fire strong spikes, and when to just lightly hit the ball. With her great help, the Griffin girls widened the gap to 10 points at 21-11.
 However the Cooperative girls began to catch up frightfully. Fabiana Andrade of Cooperative was a great attacker who spiked the ball non-stop. The Jaguar girls pulled up the score to 16-21, but the difference was too big to cover. The Griffins won the second set 25-17.

The third set was very intense.  Both teams made the best of themselves showing skilled techniques and great teamwork, battling each other point-by-point, with neither of them being able to forge a lead. As time passed, however, the situation seemed to turn into Griffins’ favor. After many turnovers, Griffin girls triumphed over Jaguars by 15-10, winning the championship title.