JV Boys Volleyball - September 13

Junior Jaguars win against Eagles

By David Boldt 

The Cooperative junior varsity boys volleyball team scored a 2-0 win in its match against Christian Learning in the Jaguars’ home gym Tuesday, taking the first set 25-19 and the second 25-15.

The decisive factor in the match was the serving of Jaguar Luis Peredo, whose overhand delivery sent ball across the net with an accuracy and force few varsity players can match.

The first set was all knotted up at 10-all the first time Peredo went to the service line. When he finished Cooperative was ahead 15-10, holding the lead it would basically maintain until the end of the set.

In the second set the Eagles actually got out to a slight lead at the outset, 2-1, before Peredo went to work again. This time he ran off seven straight points to put Cooperative in the lead 8-2.

The Eagles got the game back to a three-point margin at 11-8 with some fine serving by Claudio Sandoval ably abetted by outstanding net play from Luke Phillips, who played well throughout the match.

But the Jaguars then sprinted ahead again, and this seemed to break the Eagles spirit. The game was never again close.

The Eagles did get a small measure of revenge against Peredo on his last service turn, which occurred with the score 24-14 in the Jaguars’ favor. This time an intrepid diving return by a diminutive Eagle sent Peredo’s serve back across the net as fast as it had arrived, for a winner.

However, the Jaguars took the next point on the Eagles’ serve to close out the set and the match, 25-15.  

Griffins Beat Knights In Straight Sets

By Sung-Eun Song, SCIS

The International JV boys volleyball team chalked up a straight sets victory over Cambridge in a match played at the Griffins gym Tuesday. After falling behind in the opening set, the Cambridge boys were never able to recover and conceded losses of 25-23 and 25-21, respectively.

The first set was a back and forth battle with the Knights fighting out to a 5-4 lead before Jose Luis of International took the serve for the Griffins. Jose drove the Griffins ahead with four aces, beginning an 8-5 point run. After taking the lead, the Griffins steadily maintained their dominance; the Knights once clawed back to tie the score at 12-12, but the Griffins soon extended their advantage, enjoying leads of 15-12, 16-13, 18-14 and 20-15. The Knights would not recover the margin and the Griffins took the first game 25-22.

Photo by Jonatan Muñoz.

The Griffins won largely on the strong right arms of Jose Luis and Juan Narvaez, whose strong spikes and reliable digs were the key to International's dominance in the match. German Ferrari and Arturo Battientos also played a big part in shutting down the Knights. The standouts for Cambridge were Santiago Hortado, who led the solid front offense with a constant spiking, and Percy Vidal, who displayed excellent serves.

The second set was extremely close as the score tied 6 times; 2-2, 9-9, 10-10, 11-11, 12-12 and 13-13. However the Griffins soon moved out to a 15-13 lead from two aces from Christian Magargo, and then began to build on the advantage. They continued to hold that momentum during the rest of the second set, in which they never trailed. International maintained their momentum up to 24-19, but had a little trouble closing the door. The game featured many long rallies and intrepid retrievals by both sides. The Knights almost caught up the Griffins at 24-21, but a strong spike from Griffin Arturo Barrientos finally gave Griffins a victory of 25-21.