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By Bucky Brennan

The St. John’s Knights continue an impressive volleyball season as they dispatched the Guam High Panthers 25-17, 25-23 Friday night at the St. Johns School Gym.

Paige Bossart and Kayla Blend attempt to pass an attack from the Knights. (photo by Andre Gadia)

St. John’s standout Devin Nicole Opinion Johnson said, “Tonight was sloppy, we can play a much cleaner game, but the net effect was a win.”

Errors plagued both sides the entire game as neither team seemed to find a good offensive rhythm.

After trading points back and forth to open the first set, the board read 3-3. The Knights then took over as Destiny Castro smashed two back-to-back kills and the Panthers gave up several points on a string of errors. In the run, Johnson contributed a kill for the Knights scoring spree and Adrianna Chang notched two strong aces as well. The Panthers then got their offense going with a run of their own. They managed to get within two points when the score read 13-11. St. Johns would give nothing more to the Panthers though and they closed the set 25-17 capitalizing on several Guam High errors.

The teams traded points in the beginning of the second to make the score 7-7. The Panthers capitalized on several unforced errors by the Knights to take the lead at 17-10. The Knights then went on a four-point run behind an Alex McCarrol ace and several Panther errors. With the score at 17-14, Panther Middle Alexis McGuire smashed a quick-set kill to give her team some offensive momentum. A few points later, at 19-15 after errors from both teams, the Panthers looked like they were going to force a third. But then the Knights buckled down. Johnson’s jump serve ace coupled with kills by Castro and Kristina Folta ignited a small comeback for St. Johns. With the small run and St. Johns starting to comeback, the scoreboard read 22-20 with Guam High still in the lead. Panther Tiffany Unsiog swatted a kill off the St. John’s block to get the Panthers a sideout and make the score 23-21, but two errors, coupled with a Castro ace and Folta’s kill at game-point sealed the victory for the Knights at 25-23.

After the game, when asked about the rest of the season, Johnson said, “We usually start off slow, starting strong would be a great aspect to add to our game. With only three seniors, we’re a very young team and are growing as we go. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and the years to come.”

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