By Joshua Knopp/special assignments editor
South Campus volleyball intramurals drew to a close Oct. 4 with Hard Aces defeating Krush two sets to one.
This year, the campus drew only enough players for two teams, and Hard Aces and Krush played each other for five games straight. The tournament was reduced to a five-game series, and it took all five games.
“With two teams, it’s been challenging,” said Hard Aces captain Angelica Barba. “Everybody’s being competitive. Everybody’s trying to beat everybody.”
Through the first two games, the teams were evenly matched, spending most of the time exchanging points. Krush took game one with the difference being a trio of thundering service aces by Elissa Lichtenwalker.
“She’s always doing that,” said teammate Eduardo Martinez. “She has a wicked jump serve.”
During her first session serving, Lichtenwalker hurt her hand and wouldn’t go on a tear like that for the rest of the match.
Over the course of the second game, Hard Aces’ coordination took over, and they tied the match.
In game three, where only 15 points were needed to win instead of 25, Hard Aces came out flying, getting themselves up 6-1 before Krush called a timeout.
“Relax, that’s the word,” Rod Anderson told his teammates. “Relax, relax.”
The game stabilized, though Krush still seemed to be working harder for its points than Hard Aces. The teams more or less traded points until Hard Aces was crowned the victor.
For Krush captain Juan Juanes, the loss was bitter.
“It’s a terrible feeling, man,” he said. “Even if it’s an intramural, it’s still bad, especially since we’ve been playing the same team for four weeks. We started slow, and then we picked up at the wrong time. It was too late.”
Hard Aces player Giselle Avina was enthused with her team’s victory and hailed positivity as a leading factor.
“We motivated each other,” she said. “We were positive all the time, never negative.”
