
By Robert Balajadia
A big showdown between the last two unbeaten teams in IIAAG Middle School Girls Volleyball met Tuesday evening for an early-season battle. The St. John’s Knights hosted the St. Anthony Raiders, and the visiting team stole the show in straight sets.
The Raiders jumped out to a strong first set victory, followed by a comeback victory in the second set to take the contest 25-22, 25-21. The win moves the Raiders to (3-0) while the Knights fall to (2-1).
St. Anthony’s Victoria Rapadas helped her team break away from a tie contest midway through the opening set with three serve aces to get ahead 15-12. She would later put her team on the brink of taking the first, getting a kill to go up 24-18.

“We were super prepared and tried our hardest. We had a lot of great cheering and that helped for good morale,” said Rapadas on preparation and coming out with a victory.
St. John’s would put together a rally of their own behind a kill from Ella Wigsten and two aces from Kneesa Davis to get as close as 24-22, but a kill from Raiders Madisyn Cruz would nip the Knights comeback attempt for the final point.
The Knights came out strong in the second set behind a flurry of aces from Alexa Espaldon to take a commanding 11-3 lead. Espaldon would string together five straight aces to go along with two early kills for a personal 7-0 run.
The Raiders would persevere by playing sound defense allowing the Knights to pile on enough errors to stage a St. Anthony comeback. Down 18-14, Raider Pia Hart stepped to the service line to orchestrate a 4-0 run to tie the game at 18. St. Anthony would take a their first lead of the set off a big rally 19-18 to completely seize momentum.
“We knew that if we could get back into that set then we could come out with the win,” said Cruz.
The Knights repeatedly attacked the Knights backline on serves, but the Raiders were in position to defend them, which played a big part in turning the set around.
“Our coach always serves really hard at us in practice so we were prepared to defend that,” added Rapadas.
Cruz would grab her third kill of the set to go up 21-18 as the game ended on a Knights hitting error moments later.
Standings
St. Anthony (3-0)
Santa Barbara (3-1)
St. John’s (2-1)
St. Francis (2-1)
Bishop (2-2)
San Vicente (2-2)
GAA (2-2)
Harvest (2-2)
McCool (1-3)
Andersen (0-1)
St. Paul (0-3)
Mt. Carmel (0-3)
PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:







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

Basketball
TAKUMI SIMON MAKING THE BEST OF PRO LIFE

Volleyball
H.S. BEACH VOLLEYBALL IN FULL SWING
COMING SOON …
- 3rd Quarter Sports