By John Baza
IIAAG boy’s volleyball action continued this Friday night as the Southern High Dolphins hosted the Harvest Eagles on their home court. The Eagles were able to capitalize on Dolphin errors in the second set to fly away with the win, defeating the Dolphins (25-18, 25-9) in straight sets.
In what can be described as a team effort, Eagles’ senior and team captain Marlon Evans had this to say on the win, “We felt like we needed to enjoy the game a little more, I feel like the only way we could’ve done that was by executing with our team work.”
“Losing our first game was tough but since then we’ve been building on our team work and trying to get a flow of the game.” replied an optimistic Evans on his plans for his team as the season progresses.
First Set
Opening the game with a 2-0 lead, the home team Dolphins were focused and ready to defend home. But the Eagles fired right back as Isaiah Lagutang sent in a strong kill and served his team to a 5-3 lead.
The Dolphins’ Phil Jardaleza and Napu San Luis were determined to keep their team from falling behind as they landed hits that brought their team within distance (8-6), but Harvest’s Matt Replan went on a little run of his own with a nifty kill and serve to extend the lead (10-6).
After tight, well-played possessions, the Eagles still found themselves on top (16-15) but the Dolphins were right there, as they never trailed more than 4 points. The Eagles’ Marlon Evans and Kobe Sotelo played momentum killers shortly after as they recorded a block and a kill respectively, putting their squad up (18-15).
The Dolphins’ defensive coverage was on point throughout the game as they were able to pick up an onslaught of kills delivered by the Eagle’s heavy hitters. But errors and violations eventually lead to their downfall, as the Eagles capitalized and captured the first (25-18).
Second set
Harvest opened up the second set in attack mode, with Lagutang and Replan attacking the back row, but the Dolphins’ Chris Bulala provided coverage for his team as he picked up the hits.
The Eagles were able to hit middle blocker Ben Wiegand with a quick set, as he hit it right down the middle to give his team first blood.
Southern’s Ryan Guzman put up a double play, getting a kill and a block on the ensuing play to tie it up (2-2).
The first few points of the sets saw tight action as both teams were neck to neck trying to break away and gain control. After a pair of hits from the Dolphins’ Adrian Teologo, the Dolphins found themselves tied at 6-all with their opponents.
This was the closest that the home team would get in the set however, as Harvests’ Sean Evans stepped up, getting kills and blocks to extend the growing lead (18-8).
The Dolphins however, were not going to give up easily as they made the extra effort, digging hits and blocking. Their efforts came up shortly as the Eagles blanked them in the last few possessions, giving Harvest the win on the road.
With the win, the Eagles improve to (2-1).
Southern wins a close one in the JV contest, squeaking by in the third set that went down to the wire (25-17, 14-25, 26-24).
Other Scores
JFK def. St. John’s 25-18, 27-29, 25-15
Okkodo def. ND 25-10, 25-18
FD def. Sanchez 25-21, 25-15
Guam High def. St. Paul 25-14, 25-5
(AP/Carlos Osorio)
