By Sung-Eun Song, SCIS
The International girls varsity volleyball team won their match against Cambridge
The Griffins came out strong in the first set. Ciara Harriague scored three consecutive aces to yield a 4-1 Griffins lead. Then Maria Victoria Gutierrez scored four straight points to nab an 8-2 advantage and reached the first timeout. Out of the break, the Knights scored five aces from C. Tanaka closing the gap to 9-8, in favor of the Griffins. The Knights then began to storm back aggressively and finally came back to tie the set at 10-all. The Griffins, however, did not let the Knights to take the lead. With constant attacks from Maria Victoria Gutierrez, they widened the gap again to 22-11. At this point Ciara Harriague was serving for the International and she made three straight points with her serve to give the Griffins a victory 25-11.
Unlike the first set where Griffins’ victory seemed inevitable, the beginning of the second set was very close. Neither team was able to gain a lead of more than two points. But this time, the Knights were slightly ahead of the Griffins. The Knights took an early 3-1 lead. Soon the Griffins tied the score at 3-3 with two kills from Maria Victoria Gutierrez and one ace from Camila Johnson. However, Knights R. Pinto scored two consecutive kills and gave the lead back to the Cambridge
Jaguars Beat Eagles With Little Difficulty
By Andrea Gutierrez, SCCS
The Cooperative varsity girls volleyball team defeated Christian Learning in an routine match, two sets to none, on the Cooperative court Thursday.
The Jaguars were excited to win this match, because they had lost the previous week to International and had been called in for extra practices at 5:30 in the morning. Apparently these practices paid off, because in this match the Jaguars were unstoppable.
The Jaguars definitely started out on the right foot. Ana Paula Peredo began serving and won four straight points, and when it was the Eagles’ turn to serve, the ball hit the net, returning the ball to the Jaguars who continued to roll up the points. The set finished in a seemingly effortless 25-7 win for the home team.
The second set began similarly. Jaguar Carla Limpias was playing very well, demonstrating speed and accuracy while scoring multiple points. The Eagles were playing with less enthusiasm than the previous set, but still refused to give up. They placed their serves strategically, forcing the Jaguars to throw themselves onto the ground in order to save the ball – but time after time the serves were saved.
When it was Maria Jose Viacava´s turn to serve for the Cooperative team, she won ten points in a row before a rare miscommunication between teammates gave the Eagles another point setting the score at 12-2. The set ended 25-7, with Jaguars victorious.
Christian Learning’s crowd of supporters, which was much bigger than the home team’s, ended up cheering magnanimously for both teams as the players shook hands, displaying their good sportsmanship.
