By Jay Leon Guerrero
The defending IIAAG Boys Volleyball Champion Okkodo Bulldogs are two victories away from repeating as champions after defeating the Guam High Panthers in straight sets (26-24, 25-20, 25-20) Saturday night on their home floor.
The Bulldogs were pushed to the limit against a much-improved Panther team that did not go down without a fight.
The win was expected from the Bulldogs, but their road to victory was no walk in the park.
“I’m really proud of the team, it has been an honor to coach them this season,” said Panther coach Brian Matanane. “They have exceeded my expectations, they put out their best performance.”
The Panther faithful cheered as they stunned the Bulldogs in the first set, taking a 14-11 advantage. Henry Haight and Donovan Johnson-Coleman were flawless in the opening set with Haight notching two kills and a block and Johnson-Coleman getting a pair of blocks in the middle.
“The guys in middle had big blocks and we didn’t expect that. They really caught us off-guard,” said Okkodo’s second team all-islander Gary Aromin. Aromin’s defense and good passes helped the Bulldogs in their comeback to force a deuce at 24-all.
The Panthers were unable to get a side out and surrendered the first set after two unforced errors. A very relieved Bulldog team huddled after the first set and knew they were in for a battle in order to get to the next round.
The Bulldogs came out strong in the second set and held on to an early three point lead. Kin Edusada kept the Panthers within striking distance with three kills to cut the Bulldog lead to 12-15. The Bulldogs went on a 4-1 run with setter Rai Santos finding Brian Crowe and Aromin to take a comfortable seven point lead.
The Panthers clawed back and got kills from Haight and Leon Bamba to force the Bulldogs to call a timeout.
The Bulldogs’ Ian Ilagas came up big after the timeout to close out the second set on a 6-2 run with two kills for the close 25-20 victory.
In the third set, first-team all-islander Aiden Ferrera helped the Bulldogs to an eight-point lead with four kills. The Bulldogs held on for the straight set win and a 25-20 close out victory. Crowe had the final kill of the game.
“We came out really sloppy, but thankfully we regrouped ourselves. They came to play; they weren’t the team we played previously (in the regular season) and I give them a lot of credit for that,” said Ferrera who led the Bulldogs with 8 kills.
“We learned not to take any team lightly no matter what their rankings may be. We have to bring our A-game every time,” said Aromin.
Edusada had 7 kills for the Panthers. Ilagas, who was also voted as a first-team all-islander, had 7 kills for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs will wait to for the winner of the FD vs JFK winner for a semi-final showdown.
Due to Prom nights on Saturday evening, there will be three games on Tuesday with the Southern Dolphins (6th seed) taking on the Harvest Eagles (3rd seed), the Father Duenas Friars (5th seed) taking on the JFK Islanders (4th seed) and the ND Royals (7th seed) taking on the GW Geckos (2nd seed).
The lower seed is the home team and all games start at 6pm in a best-of-five set playoff format.
PHOTO GALLERY:
GPS Sports Calendar
March 2024
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for February
1st
ISA SOFTBALL
IIAAG MS GIRLS SOCCER FINALS
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS
HS RUGBY PLAYOFFS
Events for March
2nd
HS RUGBY
ISA GIRLS SOFTBALL
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL FINALS
Events for March
2nd
Events for March
4th
ISA HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS
ISA SOFTBALL ALL-ISLAND COACHES MEETING
Events for March
5th
HS RUGBY PLAYOFFS
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
Events for March
8th
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL FINALS
ISA HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS PLAYOFFS
Events for March
9th
ISA SOFTBALL FINALS
HS RUGBY FINALS
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9th
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14th
- 17
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- 23
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16th
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18th
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19th
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20th
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22nd
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24th
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25th
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27th
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28th
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29th
- 31
- 1
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Events for March
30th
Soccer
ISLANDERS OUTSHOOT DOLPHINS
Uncategorized
4TH QUARTER SPORTS SET FOR TAKE OFF
Soccer
ISLANDERS OUTSHOOT DOLPHINS
Uncategorized
4TH QUARTER SPORTS SET FOR TAKE OFF
COMING SOON …
4th Quarter Sports
- Guam Marathon