KNIGHTS KNOCK OUT FRIARS, NEW KINGS OF THE COURT

By Jay Leon Guerrero

Perseverance, Heart, and Consistency. Those words are used to describe the 2026 St. John’s Knights boys volleyball team. The Knights dug deep after getting demolished in the opening set to take down the undefeated Father Duenas Friars, taking home the IIAAG/ISA Boys Volleyball League trophy in a five set classic Thursday night at the Southern High gym.

At the end of the game, after 10 pm, the Knights dethroned the Friars 12-25, 25-13, 25-23, 22-25, 16-14.

St. John’s setter Jerrick Palomares said his team knew the Friars would bring a big crowd, but his team needed to block out all the noise and play their game: “We got together and played with that ‘next point mentality.’ In the end, it all worked out.”

“FD brings so much skill to the game. This team has been together since middle school, we worked so hard for so long – so to win this feels amazing,” said Palomares.

The Friars came out swinging in the opening set with MVP candidate Saul Bamba putting on a show. Bamba got up, way up, and displayed sheer power in the opening set, recording four kills. Antonio Egurrola also had four kills in the opening set with FD cruising to a 25-12 win.

The Knights regrouped after a shaky start and limited their errors in the second set. The Knights scored nine straight points with Oliver Schaumann and Harry Vitale making key plays at the net during their run to win the set 25-13.

The Knights won a close third set 25-23 over FD. Knathan Davis had five kills in the set, Eric Kwon closed it out with the winning kill to get the St John’s crowd pumped.

The Friars won the fourth set 25-22. FD setter Kole Guerrero found Bamba early to take a 7-3 advantage. The Friars never surrendered the lead with Jace Aguon closing out the set with five kills.

Both teams went back and forth in the fifth and final set with the game tied 7-7. FD’s Aguon recorded back-to-back kills to put FD ahead 9-7. The Friars seized momentum with Caelen Duenas recording an ace to go up 10-7.

The Knights fought their way back into the game, with Vitale recording a kill and Palomares making a defensive stop with a block. The Friars went ahead 12-10, with Jonathan Guerrero coming up big off the bench for a kill.

The Friars, however, committed a pair of unforced errors, and Vitale made another kill in the middle, and St. John’s was suddenly ahead. With Vitale at the service line, the final point came off a tip from Schaumann to win the championship for St. John’s.

The Knights ended an incredible eight-year IIAAG championship streak held by the Friars. Bamba had a game-high 15 kills for FD. Egurrola finished the game with 14 kills, Aguon had 12 kills, and Kobe Miyashita had seven kills. Zaiden Mendiola had a game-high five blocks for FD.

St. John’s libero Elijah Dewan said his senior group had been playing together since middle school. Dewan was thankful to the coaches, teammates, supporters, and his mom for being there for him and the team throughout this journey.

“I’ve been with this team for a long time. All these nights, working so hard, and it finally comes to fruition,” said Dewan. Dewan anchored the Knights’ back-row defense and had two aces from the service line.

Kwon led the Knights with 10 kills, Davis and Vitale had nine kills each. Palomares had four blocks for the Knights.

In the consolation game, the ND Royals won a 5-set thriller over the Tiyan Titans. The final set went back-and-forth with the Royals winning 19-17. 

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