Jaguars strong in opening victory
The Cooperative girls volleyball team opened its title defense with a smoothly executed 2-0 defeat of a Cambridge team that showed it had talent, but was still making too many early season miscues to stay even with the ready, willing and able Jaguars.
The game was played in the Jaguar gym Thursday afternoon in front of a small but noisy crowd representing both schools.
Cambridge and Cooperative started out looking fairly evenly matched until the first required time-out, at which point Coooperative led by only a single point, 8-7. From there the Jaguars took control, taking turns ripping in serves and smashing cross-court volleys. The Jaguars led 12-7, then 18-10, and seemed to coast in to take the opening set 25-15.The Jaguar domination in the second set was clearer. After a 3-3 tie, the Jaguars moved ahead 10-3 and then 18-7, before finally winning the second set and clinching the match 25-13. Ana Peredo and Carla Limpias were the big hitters for the Jaguars, often ably set up by Maria Velasco and others.
The Knights got strong play from Lisa Delboy, and Manel Palacios made some nice points by going above the net and tapping ball into an open spot.
Griffin girls overpower Christian Learning
By Sung-Eun Song
International School
The International school girls varsity volleyball team conquered the Christian Learning team Thursday afternoon in the SCIS gym. The Griffins swept the match in straight sets, 25-13, 25-11.
In the first set, the Griffins held a lead of a few points several times. However, the Eagles kept fighting back to tie the score. But with the score tied at 7-7, Griffins finally put away the Eagles with three consecutive kills by senior Beatiz Nallar.
The Griffins widened the score gap to 16-9, forcing Eagles to call a timeout; but it didn't work. Griffins Beatriz Nallar and Maria Victoria Gutierrez, with delicate taps to open spots and strong spikes, continued their dominance to give the Griffins a 23-13 lead that would not be overcome. Thanks to their cooperative play, the International team won the first set 25-13.The Eagles big players were Rebecah Kienzle and Arianne Somare. Rebecah Kienzle was capable of hitting hard and accurately, never missing chances she was given. Arianne Somare led the back row with great assistance. She led from behind the service line as well. Also Natalia Eguez and Susana Alvarez were a great help for the Eagles.
The momentum continued in the second set as the Griffins jumped out to an early 8-4 lead with four kills from Gutierrez. Soon the Griffins increased their lead to 16-9. The outstanding players of Griffins in the second set, other than Gutierrez and Nallar, were Diana Melgar and Ciara Harriague. They greatly contributed to the Griffins with their strong serves and vital assistances.
The Eagles standouts continued to be Rebecah Kienzle and Arianne Somare, who reciprocated every attack aimed at them, but they couldn’t overpower the Griffins’ well-organized teamwork that would eventually find a weak spot..The second set ended 25-11, giving the Griffins a 2-0 match victory.
