Spiked Punch wins intramural volleyball title

April 26 was championship night for Intramural Volleyball, as the four remaining teams battled for volleyball supremacy.

The first semifinal game of the night was a rematch of last year’s championship, in which Angels of Glory were victorious over Spiked Punch.

Both teams started out with a lot of intensity. Halfway through the first set, the two teams were neck-in-neck. That was, until Spiked Punch’s Neil Olsen and Samuel Boynes took control of the net. Angels of Glory could not get any of their spike attempts past the two lengthy men, and Spiked Punch would take the first match 21-14.

Spiked Punch would continue to ride the wave of momentum they created into the second set. Although Angels of Glory put up a good fight, Spiked Punch’s twin towers proved too much for them. Spiked Punch would take the second set 21-16 and advance to the finals.

After the game, Angels of Glory’s Francisco Madrigal said that even though he was disappointed with the loss, he was very proud of his team’s overall effort.

The other semifinal pitted the unbeaten team of All We Do Is Win against the underdog team of Wall-E-Ballers.

All We Do Is Win took control of the match early.  Jacob Beecher had four of his serves score in a row, making the score 11-5. All We Do Is Win would take the first set 21-14.

With their season in jeopardy, Wall-E-Ballers came out in the second set more competitive. This match was a nail biter down to the end, with four lead changes down the stretch. With his back to the net, Ryan Fouch made an amazing no-look spike that put All We Do Is Win in front 24-23. They would go on to win the set 25-23 and earn a spot in finals.

The two teams in the championship game were very evenly matched. Spiked Punch had the twin towers Olsen and Boynes, while All We Do Is Win had two stars from PUC’s women’s volleyball team in Catherine Yoder and Julie Sipek.

With lightning-fast serves from Beecher and several diving saves by Sipek, All We Do Is Win would take a 9-5 advantage in the first set. Spiked Punch would fight back to even the score at 11-11, and the teams went point-for-point from there. Finally, with the score knotted up at 22, All We Do Is Win made two costly errors that would give the first set to Spiked Punch 25-23.

Clearly frustrated from his performance in the first set, Neil Olsen would come out in the second with reckless abandon. His two thundering spikes followed by scores from Samuel and Rich Sabailis put Spike Punch ahead 13-4. They would go on to take the set 21-14, and with it the championship.

“We won this championship with hard work and dedication,” Olsen said. “We played as a team, communicated well and gave maximum effort. I couldn’t be more proud.”