
By Robert Balajadia
The GW Geckos are well aware of the three-way tie (Tiyan/FD/GW) for the leagues top spot in the inaugural season of IIAAG Beach Volleyball and they’re hungry to bring in that overall title. Tuesday evening, the Geckos took to the sand courts at the GFA Training Facility and took down the St. Paul Warriors by winning all three games for a Gecko dominant day.
“We’re having a lot of fun and enjoying the season, but there is a three way tie right now and we’re really fighting for first place and want to bring home that Championship [trophy],” said Gecko Darryl Furto.
Matches
Team 1 Winners: GW def. St. Paul 21-10, 21-18
(GW) Lawrence Melencio & Darryl Furto
(St. Paul) Bryzen Punogbayan & EJ Acda
Team 2 Winners: GW def. St. Paul 21-18, 19-21, 15-5
(GW) Nathan Castro & Willo Tomas
(St. Paul) Keith Nauta & Charle Jackson
Team 3 Winners: GW def. St. Paul 21-10, 21-19
(GW) Matthew Magaling & Cleo Ylalim
(St. Paul) Christian Hoteling & Elijal Bautista
The Geckos started out their day with a straight sets win in the Team 3 slot as the tandem of Cleo and Matthew cruised to a first set victory. The Warriors tandem of Bautista and Hoteling traded leads in the second set but errors ultimately hurt St. Paul down the stretch as GW grabbed the victory.
In the Team 2 showdown, GW rode a streak of good hits from Castro to take the opening set, though Nauta and Jackson showed hustle in the second set to steal one for the Warriors. Castro and Tomas powered through the third set to lock up the overall team victory going 2-0 on the Warriors before their final game.
Melencio and Furto displayed great passing that set up big hits on offense to overwhelm the Warriors in the first set. Serving would prove beneficial for the Warriors as they stuck around to tie the game at 17, but Furto would set up Melencio for hits up the middle on two occasions to bring in clutch points for the Geckos to lock up a Team 1, sweeping the day.
“Our energy was up there and our intensity was really good, but we did make small errors that we plan to fix in practice. St. Paul really gave us a good fight in all the games today,” said Furto. “We do need a little more cheering from our teammates though.”
It’s a lonely world in the sand for the players as they’re not allowed to get instructions or coaching from their coaches at all while the game is going on. That means that coaches can only speak to the players in dead ball situations following National Beach Volleyball rules, which is odd for the players to get used, forcing them to figure the game out, a lot of times by themselves.
“It’s actually really hard not hearing our coach talk,” admitted Furto. “We have to learn through it ourselves and we have to know our own mistakes and fix it ourselves.”
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GPS Sports Calendar
January 2023
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
Events for December
31st
Events for January
1st
Events for January
2nd
Events for January
3rd
Events for January
4th
Events for January
5th
Events for January
6th
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
Events for January
7th
Events for January
8th
Events for January
9th
Events for January
10th
Events for January
11th
Events for January
12th
Events for January
14th
Events for January
15th
Events for January
16th
Events for January
17th
Events for January
20th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL
Events for January
21st
LIFT HEAVY + LIFT FAST – BFF SERIES
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Events for January
23rd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for January
24th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
Events for January
25th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for January
26th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for January
27th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
GLORIFIED SPARRING X
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL
Events for January
28th
5K DASH FOR ASH
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Events for January
29th
MONSTER ENERGY MOTOCROSS ROUND 1
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL
Events for January
30th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for January
31st
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL

Running/Track
’23 TRACK SEASON OPENS

Running/Track
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H.S. BEACH VOLLEYBALL IN FULL SWING
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