By Asha Marie Robles

Okkodo’s Argy Alunday makes a difficult shot at the net by the JFK blocker. (photo by Joey Blas)

The Okkodo Bulldogs continue their early season winning streak to 2-0 as they defeated the JFK Islanders at their home court in Dededo Saturday night.

Bulldogs head coach Dohn So only had one thing to say as to why his team won the match, “Determination”, which showed on the court as they beat the Islanders in three sets 18-25, 25-13, 25-21.

Though the Bulldogs took home the win, it was the Islanders who played with more heart during the first set and beat the Bulldogs 25-18. Kalei Pereda of the Islanders gave her team a leading start as she got the first point of the game off of a kill. She then added three more points off of her fast and well placed serves. Bulldogs Lori Okada stopped the streak as she put in her first kill of the night to stop the early bleeding and put Okkodo on the board.

The Islanders continued to play with better ball control, put in their serves, and make their spikes count giving them the upper hand in the first set. Multiple serves and aces from Kaitlin Blaz, Shai Carino and Pereda kept the Islanders in the lead.

To end the first set, Islanders’ Marissa Aguon put in a fast kill from back court leaving the score at 25-18.

The second set saw a whole new playing style from the Bulldogs as they demolished the Islanders 25-13 with the help of Lori Okada’s kills and big blocks.

Starting the second set off was Bulldogs’ setter Rea Dimag, as she put in her serves and gave her team a 5-0 lead. The Islanders continued to have a hard time gaining points behind multiple aces and hard serves by Bulldogs’ Okada, Keana Meno and Ke’Ann Castro. With a JFK mistake with the score at 24-13, the Bulldogs would win the second set.

With the split, both teams went into the third set with determination, it was just a matter of who wanted it more and the Bulldogs’ showed the crowd that it was them as they once again defeated the Islanders  in a close 25-21 set.

Coming in hot was newcomer Bulldog Danielle Robles as she led her team in kills during the last set giving her team the 25-21 win, “Since it’s my first year here, I feel really good about this win because it really made me feel a part of the team”.

The Islanders led the set at 4-0 before a mistake by them got the Bulldogs to catch up and keep the lead from 6-5.

Ke’Ann Castro of the Bulldogs also helped out as she put in eight serves giving her team an 18-7 lead, but with the last serve finding its way to the net, the Islanders Kaitlin Blaz answered back with six consecutive serves, cutting the lead to 18-12 and giving her team motivation to get back into the game.

In the end, the Bulldogs held the upper hand as they were in the lead majority of the time in the third set and with an Islander error at 24-21, the Bulldogs had secured the win. Robles says that because of good communication, working as a team, and encouraging one another, they were able to leave the match with the win.

Bulldogs libero Okkodo Jestyne Sablan makes a nice pass to her setter to continue the rally. (photo by Joey Blas)

Other Games

St. John’s def. Harvest 25-20, 22-25, 25-15

Sanchez def. St. Paul 25-18, 25-15

Southern def. Guam High 25-13, 28-26

Notre Dame def. GAA 23-25, 25-18, 25-18

BYE: Academy

Junior Varsity Scores

Harvest def. St. John’s  25-20, 25-19

GW def. St. Thomas 15-25, 25-14, 25-13

Sanchez def. St. Paul 25-14, 25-13

Guam High def. Southern 25-19, 9-25, 26-24

JFK def. Okkodo 25-17, 11-25, 25-16

Bulldog Okkodo Lori Okada had a good night serving against JFK for the ace down the baseline. (photo by Joey Blas_