
By Jay Leon Guerrero
The Harvest Eagles remain atop the IIAAG Boys Volleyball league standings after defeating the St. Paul Warriors in straight sets 25-13, 25-20, 25-23 at the St. Paul Gym.
The Eagles’ game plan was to come out aggressive and have two blockers against St. Paul’s power hitter Rui Ventura.
Ventura continued to collect highlight kills and had a game-high 16 kills in three sets. Despite the outstanding individual performance from Ventura, the Eagles attacked from all angles and played good defense to hold off the Warriors, who pulled off the upset against the FD Friars last week on their home turf.
“The team was talking about how S. Paul just came off beating FD and that was a big win for them,” said Eagles outside hitter Jack Keith. “We knew they were going to come out swinging but we wanted to come out harder and show that we are here to get that top seed.”
Traven Kaae and Keith led the Eagles offensively with Kaae recording 11 kills and Keith contributing nine kills and two aces.
The Warriors pulled off an upset in their previous game, handing the defending champion Friars their second straight loss of the season. The Eagles came prepared knowing the Warriors were dangerous with Ventura’s hitting power and the home crowd.
“Our game plan for Rui (Ventura) was to have two blockers against his back row attacks,” said Keith. “We always have double blockers at the net, but for his back row attacks, we had one blocker at an angle and made him choose his angle.”
First Set
The Eagles start the contest off on fire, surging ahead 6-0 behind a pair of kills from Brian Xia. Kaae finished the set with five kills to help Harvest take the first set 25-13.
Second Set
The Warriors responded to open the second set with a 9-2 lead. Pascual went to Ventura four times to ignite the home crowd back into the game.
The Eagles mount a comeback to tie the game at 11-11 with strong defense and big kills from Keith and Calvin Laxamana.
The Eagles continued their momentum and took their largest lead of the game, 21-18 behind a surprise kill from setter Christian Shinohara. Keith made the final dagger kill to take the second set 25-20.
Third Set
With their backs against the ropes, the Warriors again had a good start and went ahead 5-1 with Hodges recording two kills. The Eagles slowly chipped away at the Warrior lead and went ahead 10-9.
Rueben Lemuel and Xie chalk up kills to put the Eagles up 18-15. Pascual makes a beautiful pancake save, and Ventura follows up with two more kills to tie the game at 20-20.
The Eagles regroup with a Laxamana and Xie recording back-to-back kills to go up 23-20. The Eagles score the final point off a block on Ventura with Xie meeting him at the net to end the game.
St Paul had their runs in the game led by setter Raven Pascual. Nate Hodges had eight kills for the Warriors. The loss drops the Warriors down to fifth place with a 2-4 record.
After losing their season opener to the Friars, the Eagles won six straight games to improve to 6-1. The Eagles will face the St. John’s Knights next to clinch the top seed and home court advantage for the playoffs.
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GPS Sports Calendar
December 2023
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for November
1st
ISA BOYS SOCCER
IIAAG GIRLS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for December
2nd
IRON LEGENDS THROWDOWN
ISA HS BASEBALL
HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING
Events for December
4th
IIAAG BOYS SOCCER
ISA BOYS SOCCER
ISA GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for December
5th
ISA HS BASEBALL
ISA GIRLS BASKETBALL
IIAAG GIRLS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS
Events for December
5th
Events for December
7th
ISA HS BASEBALL
IIAAG BOYS SOCCER PLAYOFFS
Events for December
9th
40th GRC PLUMERIA ROAD RACE
GUAM RUGBY INTERNATIONAL 7s TOURNAMENT
ISA HS BASEBALL
HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING
IIAAG GIRLS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
Events for December
10th
TOUR OF GUAM 2023
GUAM RUGBY INTERNATIONAL 7s TOURNAMENT
Events for December
11th
ISA HS BASEBALL
IIAAG BOYS SOCCER SEMIFINALS
Events for December
12th
ISA HS BASEBALL
ISA GIRLS BASKETBALL
IIAAG GIRLS BASKETBALL FINALS
Events for December
12th
Events for December
14th
ISA HS BASEBALL
IIAAG BOYS SOCCER FINALS
Events for December
16th
3rd GUAM NINJA CHAMPIONSHIP
ISA HS BASEBALL
HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING
Events for December
16th
Events for December
18th
IIAAG BOYS SOCCER ALL-ISLAND MEETING
Events for December
19th
ISA HS BASEBALL
ISA GIRLS BASKETBALL
Events for December
19th
Events for December
23rd
HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING
ISA HS BASEBALL FINALS
Events for December
23rd
Events for December
24th
Events for December
25th
Events for December
27th
Events for December
29th
- 31
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Events for December
30th

Basketball
MVP STARS SHINE IN TRITON HOOPS LEAGUE

Basketball
FAMILIAR FOES TO MEET FOR HOOPS CROWN

Basketball
ISLANDERS AVENGE EARLY SEASON LOSS
COMING SOON …
- IIAAG Girls Basketball Finals: Academy vs. St. Paul
- IIAAG Boys Soccer Finals