EAGLES, PANTHERS LOOK TO REBOUND FROM FIRST LOSSES

By Eriele Salas 

Coming off a loss from their previous games Tuesday, the Harvest Eagles and Guam High Panthers were dead set on getting back on their winning ways. Rallies back and forth between the two were thrillingly constant thanks to the consistent defense from each team. The Eagles won in straight sets 25-18, 25-18, 25-16 against the Panthers in the Guam High gymnasium Friday night. 

1st set

The Panthers had a strong start in the beginning of the match with a three-point lead against the Eagles. The Panthers had some kills from Miayla Crose and Brianna Franklin which put their team ahead. The Eagles decided to play the game safe for the first few minutes. Once Harvest finds their rhythm, setter Patricia Cassidy attempts to dump on the opposing team, but Guam High’s defense from Cierrah Herrera is enough to keep the ball in play. Both teams had a consistent flow on defense which led to a few long rallies. Halfway into the set, Harvest becomes more confident in their plays and manages to get a seven-point lead. Eagles Niesha Chen and Erica Cassidy assisted their team with seven kills all together. With the game-point serve, Harvest’s Chen not only successfully puts the ball into play, but also gets the opportunity to get the match-winning kill. With the Eagles now ahead, they had the advantage to finish in three. 

2nd set

Harvest came into this set a little rusty with the service errors they were making. Some tried to kill the ball onto the Panthers, but Guam High’s Crose and Leila Frenquez covered every ball coming their way. Despite their cover from Gabriella Penry, Eagle Madi Moyer managed to score three kills on them. Guam High’s Sophia Fernandez had great sets to her hitters who made three kills all together. Carrying Harvest’s defense, Zoe Leung and Kaelyn McConkay were instrumental in making sure that ball wouldn’t reach the floor. The Eagles secured another seven-point advantage against the opposing team, and with Chen’s last kill in the set, they were a shoe-in to win the final set. 

3rd set

Playing safer now, the Panthers decided to focus up on their defense, as hitters like Sofie Kongolo from Harvest had some kills on them. With the Eagles offensive mindset, the Panthers started to lose their rhythm and were all over the place for the ball. Guam High’s Crose made sure her passes were consistent, as Harvest’s McConkay continuously sent deep balls to the end of the court. The Panthers eventually caught on and started reading where McConkay would shoot the ball to, which helped them catch up a little more, but it wasn’t enough to get them ahead. With an out-of-bounds service error from the Panthers, the Eagles were dubbed the winners of the match, bringing their score up to 4-1. 

The Guam High Panthers will be challenging the current top competitor, St. John’s, back at the Panthers den next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. The Eagles will be going against the Guahan Academy Starfish the same day at the same time in the Eagles nest.

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