By: Asha Marie Robles

The Southern Dolphins continue to prove that they are not a team to be taken lightly as they defeated the St. Paul Warriors on Tuesday night in a three set match 25-22, 23-25, 25-15.

Dolphins head coach Jaret Sanchez asserts that the win is another stepping stone going into the playoffs. “I see this win as a motivator to boost up the teams [Dolphins] confidence, but also, I see this as a target on our back to the other teams that want to take us out earlier”, he adds.

Though the Dolphins won the first set 25-23, it was the Warriors who seemed to have more control early in the game.

With several aces by Warriors’ Shelby Respicio and Kindra Young, the Warriors were in the lead 15-7 until an error during a serve stopped their momentum. The Dolphins slowly caught up in points behind powerful kills by Brittany Quinata and Ciera Aguon to get the score to 16-21. Their streak wouldn’t end there as teammate Marlisah Tenrio banked in two hard kills from overpasses by the Warriors. Tenorio’s kill streak continued behind hard, well placed serves by Zoe Surber as she ended the first set at 25-23 with a kill down the middle.

Dolphins Marlisah Tenorio gets up to contest Warriors Shelby Respicio at the net. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

The Dolphins continued to dominate during the second set but couldn’t take the win as the Warriors snuck up from behind and grabbed victory at 25-23.

As the Dolphins kept the lead throughout majority of the set, at 22-18, the game changed dramatically. The Warriors began stacking up points behind serves by Rheina Calvo, which took them to gain the lead at 23-22. With minor mistakes made by the Dolphins, the game would end at 25-23 in the Warriors favor.

Coming into the third set, the Dolphins changed their playing style as they focused more on their mental game, which gave them the upper hand and effortless 25-15 win over the Warriors.

“Volleyball, as I told my players, 75-85 percent mentality and if you don’t have the mentality in there to look for openings and continue to go for them, you’re going to go out cold”, states Coach Sanchez.

Kindra Young and the Warriors get ecstatic after defeating the Dolphins i the second set to force a third. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

From beginning to end, the Dolphins capitalized on each play to stay in the lead throughout the entire third set. With smarter passing, serving, placements of tips and kills by the entire team, they were able to walk away with the win.

Coach Sanchez adds that, “The main factor in why our team won tonight was basically because we saw the openings and we basically took it into consideration to play it smart rather than to power out the other team.”

Other Games

Sanchez def. Academy 19-25, 25-19, 25-22 (upset of the night)

– The top cats of the league were swimming with the Sharks in the always dangerous shark pit Tuesday with Sanchez continuing their unbeaten streak at home. The loss moves the GW Geckos ahead of the Cougars having a better win percentage.

Guam High def. St. John’s 14-25, 31-29, 25-19

– Guam High had a great outing in the Shieh Tournament and they proved they’re a team to be taken seriously after defeating the Knights in Tuesday night action.

JFK def. GAA 25-13, 25-16 (battle of winless teams)
GW def. Harvest 25-20, 25-10
Okkodo def. Notre Dame 25-14, 25-14
Southern def. St. Paul 25-23, 23-25, 25-15

Junior Varsity

GW def. Harvest 25-20, 17-25, 25-12
Okkodo def. Notre Dame 25-20, 13-25, 25-19
St. Paul def. Southern 25-22, 25-23
Sanchez def. Academy 25-13, 13-25, 25-12

PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Dolphins Zoe Surber attempts a kill. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Warriors Kindra Young is met at the net by Dolphins Marlisah Tenorio. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Warriors Joy Pangilinan tries to break the Southern front line. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Dolphins Brittany Quenga scores a point off a kill. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Warriors Kindra Young scores an easy uncontested point in the first set. (photo by Robert Balajadia)