By Carmen Gogue
The George Washington Geckos are headed to the ISA Boys Volleyball Championship after swinging past the fourth seeded Okkodo Bulldogs in four sets 25-16, 25-13, 21-25, 25-21 at the Tiyan gym Thursday evening.
Senior outside hitter Kaden Apiag went full attack mode recording 18 massive kills to lead the Geckos. Teammates Edwin Leon Guerrero had 14 kills and both Jonah Blas and Benedict Tabunar each had nine kills.
The Geckos entered the first set bringing the heat with four kills from Apiag, and three each from Blas, Tabunar, and Leon Guerrero for a total of 13 to the Bulldogs eight.
With Okkodo enduring hitting errors and scrambling to find their groove, the Geckos easily took the first set at 25-16 with a kill from Blas.
Much like the first set, the Geckos remained on fire with Apiag recording six kills with his four counterparts each getting kills of their own to over power the Bulldogs 12 kills to seven in the second.
A solid offense paired with a gapless defensive stance from libero Leiland Gumabon, GW swept the second set 25-13 with a huge kill from Apiag to head into the third.
Now down two, the Bulldogs flipped the switch with kills from Dominic David, Joel Silverstre, and Sam Carino to give Okkodo a fighting chance.
Although GW slammed down 14 kills to Okkodo’s seven, the Geckos suffered 15 errors to the Bulldogs mere six. Taking advantage of GW’s disrupted flow, the Bulldogs ran away with the third set at 25-21.
As Okkodo gained confidence from their third set win, they challenged GW even more in the fourth set going back and forth between points.
This made the Geckos even more fired up as they dominated at the net with 12 kills total to the Bulldogs four.
As much as the Bulldogs tried to stay alive from Gecko mistakes, Apiag ended the game with a big missile down the line at 25-21.
The Geckos will face the Guam Adventist Academy Angels in the Championship match on Tuesday, May 14 at the University of Guam Calvo Fieldhouse 7:30 pm.
Varsity Stats
George Washington
Kills: 51 (Apiag 18, Leon Guerrero 11, Blas 9, Tabunar 9, Joker 3, William 1)
Blocks: 4 (Apiag, Tabunar, Blas, Joker)
Aces: (Gumabon 2, William, Valenzuela, Apiag)
Okkodo
Kills: 26 (Silvestre 7, Dominic 6, Carino 6, De Mesa 3, Apatang 2, Laxamana)
Blocks: 5 (De Mesa 3, Carino 2)
Aces: 3 (Taimanglo, Apatang, Dominic)
