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By Patrick Lujan
FD’s Luis Cabral and JFK’s Zhedryk Zacarias battle at the net during the boys semifinal matchup. (photo by Jesse Castro)
The 5-foot 4-inch twin powers of Zhedryk and Zakary Zacarias played above the net and guided the JFK Islanders to a 25-20, 25-22 semifinals win over the FD Friars Monday night, sending the Islanders to the championship game Wednesday night.
It will be the old school rivalry revisited as the Islanders face the GW Geckos, winners over the Okkodo Bulldogs in the second semifinal game.
The senior twins combined for 14 of the Islanders 22 kills on the night and the JFK defense rarely let a ball hit the floor as JFK advances to the championships for the first time since 1994 when Tong-Su Rivera led the Islanders to the title.
“Preparation,” JFK head coach Alden Bautista said. “We made sure that if we had two blocks up, we’d be in a position to be there to dig any tips, but we’ve played better defensively.”
The Islanders led for most of the first set behind the net play of lefty Zakary Zacarias, who had six kills in the opening set.
The Friars did take a short-lived lead at 13-12 on an emphatic kill from Jeremiah Taitano.
Both teams battled to a 19-19 tie before the Islanders went on a 5-0 run helped out by four straight FD errors.
Zhedryk Zacarias ended the set with a nicely placed dink on the corner of the FD defense.
The Friars came out hot in the second set, taking an early 4-1 lead capped by a huge Taitano block. However, JFK climbed back in and the teams traded punches with seven ties.
JFK middle blocker Ian Illagas broke an 18-18 tie with a crowd-awakening facial kill that set the tone down the road as they slowly pulled away. Bryan Crowe had a huge block on FD All-Island middle blocker Michael Sakazaki late and Illagas finished things off with a kill to seal the deal.
JFK will now play the top-ranked Geckos Wednesday night live on www.guamsportsnetwork.com.
“Lots of communication, hard work and preparation,” said Bautista as the keys to the championship game.
Islanders def. Friars 25-20, 25-22
1st set
Aces: JFK 1 (Za. Zacarias 1), FD 0.
Unforced errors: JFK 11, FD 6.
Services errors: JFK 4, FD 3.
Kills: JFK 12 (Za. Zacarias 6, Zh. Zacarias 3, Illagas 2, Silva 1), FD 4 (Sakazaki 1, Taitano 1, Cabral 1, Bumagat 1).
Blocks: JFK 1 (Za. Zacarias 1), FD 1 (Sakazaki 1).
Ties: 8.
2nd set
Aces: JFK 2 (Zh. Zacarias 1, Illagas 1), FD 0.
Unforced errors: JFK 7, FD 7.
Service errors: JFK 3, FD 4.
Kills: JFK 10 (Za. Zacarias 3, Illagas 2, Zh. Zacarias 2, Silva 2, Crowe 1), FD 11 (Cabral 2, Debold 2, Sakazaki 2, Olchondra 1, Munoz 1).
Blocks: JFK 1 (Crowe 1), FD 2 (Taitano 2).
Ties: 7
PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
Michael Sakazaki and Shaine Munoz (photo by Jesse Castro)
Sophomore Ian Illagas delivers the serve. (photo by Jesse Castro)
FD’s Anthony Olchondra tries to go through the Islanders defense. (photo by Jesse Castro)
FD’s Michael Sakazaki gets his spike tipped by JFK’s Ian Illagas. (photo by Jesse Castro)
Luis Cabral tries to loft it over the blocking of Bryan Crowe (11) and Royette Nunez (15). (photo by Jesse Castro)
The JFK cheerleading squad was out in support of their boys volleyball team. (photo by Jesse Castro)
The Islanders have a mild celebration after beating the Friars in two sets. (photo by Jesse Castro)
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