WEDNESDAY, 11 APR 2012 03:00AM BY MIKE NAUTA JR. | VARIETY NEWS STAFFHITS: 105
http://mvguam.com/sports/23104-spartans-defeat-crusaders-in-season-opener.html
[Marianas Variety] WITH the shifting of several sports in the IIAAG Middle School League, the girl’s volleyball season was moved this year to fourth quarter. Last night, at “The Jungle,” the Santa Barbara Spartans traveled south to meet up with the Saint Francis Crusaders. Both teams opened their season looking to start up with some momentum. After dropping the opening set, the Lady Spartans fought back and were able to pick up their first win with a three-set (22-25, 25-21, 15-12) victory over the Crusaders.
Heading into the third set, there was no clear picture as to who would walk out of the gym victors. The tight match would boil down to the team with the least mistakes. The Lady Spartans took a quick 2-0 courtesy of a Crusader error and a kill by Mykha Agtay.
Santa Barbara allowed the Crusaders to score three unanswered points on unforced error. However, after a timeout called, the Spartans came back and eventually built a 7-3 lead. Jonelle Sayama led the mini-surge with two aces and four digs.
Midway through the set, Demi Cerrillo continued to rally her team and served up three consecutive aces to give her team a 10-4 lead.
But the Crusaders wouldn’t go down so easy as Maylani Simon stepped up to the service line and narrowed the gap to 10-8. Sensing a comeback attempt by the Crusaders, Santa Barbara strategized and iced the moment by calling a timeout. The strategy proved to be key as a Crusader error gave the serve back to Santa Barbara. Jada Dimla recorded a kill and three Crusader errors put the Spartans at match point, 14-8.
Scare
Santa Barbara was given a slight scare as Crusader Sirena Cepeda put on a serving clinic by serving four zipping aces to make it a 14-12 game. Trying to keep the game going, Cepeda’s fifth serve was dug up by the Spartans and a long one-handed save by Tyler Torres sent the ball across the net. Saint Francis had a hard time handling the ball, forcing an error for the match-ending point.
“We came into this game knowing that the Crusaders would be a tough team. Even though we lost the first set, we just kept our heads up and continued to play with heart,” Sayama said. “Saint Francis is an excellent team with good serving and hitting, they really did good today.”
In the first two sets, both teams gave their fans everything to cheer about as neither was able to gain a clear advantage. It was literally a point-for-point change on each possession. The Crusaders were able to close out the first set with a Taylor Paulino service ace. In the final point of the second set, a passing error by the Crusaders gave Santa Barbara the set to force a deciding third set.