Boys Varsity Volleyball - September 13

Griffins Easily Dispatch Knights

Photo by Jonatan Muñoz.

By Sung-Eun Song, SCIS

The International boys varsity volleyball team defeated the Cambridge team, taking both sets handily 25-7 Tuesday at the Griffin gym.

The International team dominated the Knights in the first set from start to finish. At the start of the first game, the Griffins sprinted out to a 7-2 lead on the serves of sophomore Eric Tacayama, forcing the Knights to call timeout. After trading a couple of serves, the Griffins struck again with four consecutive points to take a 15-4 lead. Griffin senior Juan Sebastian Narvaez played the most pivotal role in the match, leading the Griffin attack. As both an offensive and a defensive player, Narvaez showed not only excellent serves and unblockable spikes, but also stable and reliable digs. Francisco Gonzales, another outstanding Griffin attacker, had a very useful attack skill; he made several scores by aiming an empty spot or by tipping the ball over the net slightly. With a solid set of defensive skills from Santiago Maldonado and Eric Takayama, the Griffins made it much harder for the Knights to ever score on them. Playing what seemed to be almost error-free volleyball, the Griffins won the opening set 25-7.

Photo by Jonatan Muñoz.

The second set started much like the first with the Griffins jumping out to a 9-2 lead with several kills from Juan Sebastian Narvaez and Francisco Gonzales. Throughout the second set, the Griffins seemed to be in near-perfect condition; they were enthusiastic in basic passing, blocking, spiking and even in simple conditioning such as running. The Knights also had good play from Marcio Baio and Gabriel Alonso in receiving the ball and making key saves, but couldn’t overcome the energetic Griffins. Finally the Griffins, with a solid base of overall skills, defeated the Knights 25-7.

Jaguars Return to Winning Ways Against Eagles

By Lucia Landivar, SCCS

      The Santa Cruz Cooperative School won the boys varsity volleyball game against the Christian Learning Center on Tuesday afternoon at the Jaguar home court. Cooperative Jaguars won both sets 25-15, and 25-17.

     A small crowd of Christian Learning students and parents, and a few Cooperative teachers, students, and cheerleaders were on hand. . The Jaguars wanted to prove that their game, and their fierceness, was still in them, even after their loss against the International team the week before. Both teams were hoping to win the game to move up in the standings.

      The Jaguars have been strong in volleyball in recent years, while the Eagles have struggled, and on this particular afternoon they were worried they wouldn’t have enough players to play this match: Still, they won against Cambridge College in their previous match.

     The first set started off with the Eagles serving, but they missed the point. After that, the Jaguars scored ten points straight, many coming on hard-hit returns from Nicolas Handal and strong spikes by Camilo Avila. Several Eagles collided and fell in a failed attempt to respond to one Avila spike.

      When the scoreboard showed Jaguar lead at 19-10, the Eagles clearly let their nerves get to them, and started making one mistake after another. Players were failing to respond to serves, cover spikes, or stay out of each other’s way. The Jaguars seemed to feed off the Eagles’ insecurity. They relaxed and played with increasing confidence. Josue Abuawad scored one of several Jaguar points by barely tapping the ball over the net by touching it slightly, dropping it into an uncovered spot.

      Regardless, Christian Learning had its moments. Cesar Flores managed a few great spikes, scoring points for the Eagles. Damon Janzen spiked the ball with great velocity when he got the chance, scoring another point for the Eagles.  But despite the Eagles’ efforts the Jaguar lead stretched to 25-14, at which point Nicolas Handal smacked the ball from the corner of the court directly down into the Eagle’s side of the court, taking the Eagles by surprise and scoring the winning point for the first set.

     Cooperative’s Avila started off the second set serving, and ripped off three points for the Jaguars before Flores threw himself to the ground to save the ball, scoring a point for the Eagles in the process. However, Christian Learning continued to have trouble responding to Jaguar serves while the Jaguars seemed to come up with one amazing play after another. At one point Cooperative senior Jorge Melgar was able to kick the ball backwards before it hit the ground, allowing a safe return.

      Cooperative seemed to be doing almost everything right, while the Christian Learning players seemed to have lost momentum, although they stayed enthusiastic. Cooperative led 16-5 at the second mandatory time out.  The Eagle coach encouraged her players, telling them to step up their game, but after  another sequence of Avila’s serves, and the Eagles’ failed attempts to respond to them, Cooperative had a commanding 20-7 lead.

     The Jaguars for their part were smiling and enjoying the match, full of confidence and laughter, while the Eagles were falling behind drastically.  Still the Eagles never lost their enthusiasm, and were still able to retaliate with the occasional scoring spike or fast serve.

     With the score at 24-10, Jesse Mann managed to score three straight points for the Eagles, making the score 24-13, before Jaguar’s  Jang Ho Cho smacked the ball with power, planting it into the Eagle’s side of the court, and performing the winning spike of the game.