FRIARS RETURN TO CHAMPIONSHIP TO FACE EAGLES

By Paradis Jolie Fejerang

It was a quick win for Father Duenas’ volleyball athletes in the semi-final round leading up to the IIAAG championship. On their home court in ‘The Jungle,’ the Friars took on the young team of St. John’s Knights to knock them out in a clean three sets, not even letting their rivals reach 20 before ending each. Set scores: 25-14, 25-19, 25-17.

From the start, the Knights seemed to be overcompensating for their lack in numbers as each connection with the ball on their side of the net had a bit too much force behind it. The SJS athletes looked as though they felt the need to overpower the Friars and only suffered from balls flying past the boundaries of the court or mistiming their steps when approaching the net to swing.

Nevertheless, Knight Knathan Davis had some impressive kills to rock FD’s defense as a reminder not to let their guard down. Still, Davis’ swings were not enough to combat the dominance that was Friar senior and co-captain Joseph Mafnas on the court.

Mafnas stood out in carrying the game with untouchable spikes, smart placement and aim towards his opponents, a couple of blocks where he could nab them and strong serves that the Knights struggled to control when on the receiving end. 

Being a crucial asset to the Friars on the court, libero Zachary Muna stood out with the nicest serves of the game when he got the chance to take them as he beat out the court with unmatched aces for his team. With no doubt that he was the right athlete for the job, Muna’s hustle to save the plays was incomparable and truly brought the excitement for the FD audience when saving some stellar balls that were left uncontrolled when the Knights found the opportunity to strike.

In a fitting final play, Mafnas delivered the game-winning kill. Being more than happy about the results, he is happy with where he has landed throughout the season as he holds himself to a ‘practice how you play’ mentality and knows that this is exactly what he and his team have been working towards.

The Championship

The Friars are set to meet the Harvest Eagles for the championship game and Mafnas is excited to see them on the other side of the net for the finals. 

Mafnas shares that the budding Knights gave him a good run for his money as such fresh opponents, but is ready to move onto prepping for the next matchup. 

“We’re going to start fine-tuning everything,” Mafnas states. “Our passes and our blocks – just everything. There’s still a lot more work to be done.”