From October 17th to 19th, High Schoolers participated in their first VANAS tournament of the year: Volleyball. Fifteen high schoolers traveled all the way to Valencia in order to play to the best of their abilities to reach the so-desired 1st place.
On Thursday, High Schoolers rose nice and early to catch their plane to Valencia and arrived at the Colegio Internacional de Carabobo Valencia (CICV) at 10:30am. Even though our high schoolers had just arrived, they had no time to relax. Both boys and girls had to play their first game right away, both against Colegio Internacional de Caracas (CIC). Luckily, our geckos were in no disadvantage, since both boys and girls won their first game. The boys won their first game in only two sets, while the girls won in three sets.
After their first game, the geckos rested for about an hour, and moved on to their next rivals: Escuela Bella Vista (EBV) and Escuela Campo Alegre (ECA).The girls won against EBV in three sets, while the boys lost to ECA in two sets.
At 5pm, our gecko girls still had one more game to play, while the boys were done for the day. The girls now had to play against the two-time champions of VANAS Volleyball: Escuela Campo Alegre. This game was extremely intense, since all players were fighting for every single point, and the boys from each teams were cheering as loud as they could.
ECA won the first set, and CIPLC managed to win the second one, which led them to play for the first set. CIPLC girls were winning the third set until they reach the last point need to win the last set. CIPLC girls were winning 14-7 when nerves reached them, and caused ECA to climb up and earn some points and tie with CIPLC. The game went to 17 points, with the ECA girls winning 17-16 to CIPLC.
CIPLC girls were now more aware than ever that a game doesn't end until the very last point.
After a tiring first day, CIPLC athletes had dinner at Burger King and checked-in at their hotel for a very much needed good night of sleep.
On Friday, CIPLC girls left to CICV before the boys did, since they had an earlier game. At that point, CIPLC girls were in second place, with only one game lost. The girls took their team pictures, and moved on to their next rivals: International School of Maturin
(ISM). CIPLC girls were fairly comfortable with this game, since they played against them several times in EVAC tournaments at CIPLC and have won before.
Unfortunately, that did not happen that time. CIPLC won the first set, and ISM managed to win the second and third sets, very much deserving the win. After this game, CIPLC girls were very much disappointed at themselves and nervous for the tournament itself, and decided to jog around the soccer field for 15 minutes in order to calm down.
While the girls jogged, the boys arrived and played their first game against CICV boys. Unfortunately, they lost in three sets, but still had two more games to look forward to, one of them being the semi-finals.
Their second game was against ECA, who they lost to in two sets. Luckily, this didn't prevent the boys from playing in the semi-finals, who they won against CICV in three sets, moving on to the finals.
Since the girls lost both of their games that day, they had no chance of reaching the finals.
Later that very same day, CICV hosted a BBQ, where students enjoyed hot dogs, hamburgers and player volleyball and soccer for fun. Though it was a time to enjoy and have fun, CIPLC girls were not able to do so, since they were still shocked and disappointed with their results.
On Saturday, the last day, CIPLC girls played at 7:30am for the 5th place against CIC, which they won in only two sets. CIPLC girls played extremely well and realized, which is how they should’ve played on the previous games. “On the other games we were too nervous and we weren’t communicating well as a team. If we were as relaxed and cheered up, we would have reached the finals for sure”, said Andrea Martinez.
Having played their last game, the CIPLC girls painted their faces green with each of the CIPLC boys’ jersey number, and cheered for them in the finals.
CIPLC boys played the finals against ECA. ECA won both sets, even though CIPLC was only 2 points away from winning the second set.
At the end of the tournament, on the girls side, CICV won first place and CIPLC got 5th. On the boys side, ECA won 1st place while CIPLC boys were right behind in 2nd place. Andrea Martinez and Jesus Rodriguez won “All-Tournament Award” from their excellent performances as athletes in the CIPLC teams.
And so the first season of sports ended, with many surprises, disappointments and most importantly with lessons learned.
By: Carolina Franco
On Thursday, High Schoolers rose nice and early to catch their plane to Valencia and arrived at the Colegio Internacional de Carabobo Valencia (CICV) at 10:30am. Even though our high schoolers had just arrived, they had no time to relax. Both boys and girls had to play their first game right away, both against Colegio Internacional de Caracas (CIC). Luckily, our geckos were in no disadvantage, since both boys and girls won their first game. The boys won their first game in only two sets, while the girls won in three sets.
After their first game, the geckos rested for about an hour, and moved on to their next rivals: Escuela Bella Vista (EBV) and Escuela Campo Alegre (ECA).The girls won against EBV in three sets, while the boys lost to ECA in two sets.
At 5pm, our gecko girls still had one more game to play, while the boys were done for the day. The girls now had to play against the two-time champions of VANAS Volleyball: Escuela Campo Alegre. This game was extremely intense, since all players were fighting for every single point, and the boys from each teams were cheering as loud as they could.
ECA won the first set, and CIPLC managed to win the second one, which led them to play for the first set. CIPLC girls were winning the third set until they reach the last point need to win the last set. CIPLC girls were winning 14-7 when nerves reached them, and caused ECA to climb up and earn some points and tie with CIPLC. The game went to 17 points, with the ECA girls winning 17-16 to CIPLC.
CIPLC girls were now more aware than ever that a game doesn't end until the very last point.
After a tiring first day, CIPLC athletes had dinner at Burger King and checked-in at their hotel for a very much needed good night of sleep.
On Friday, CIPLC girls left to CICV before the boys did, since they had an earlier game. At that point, CIPLC girls were in second place, with only one game lost. The girls took their team pictures, and moved on to their next rivals: International School of Maturin
(ISM). CIPLC girls were fairly comfortable with this game, since they played against them several times in EVAC tournaments at CIPLC and have won before.
Unfortunately, that did not happen that time. CIPLC won the first set, and ISM managed to win the second and third sets, very much deserving the win. After this game, CIPLC girls were very much disappointed at themselves and nervous for the tournament itself, and decided to jog around the soccer field for 15 minutes in order to calm down.
While the girls jogged, the boys arrived and played their first game against CICV boys. Unfortunately, they lost in three sets, but still had two more games to look forward to, one of them being the semi-finals.
Their second game was against ECA, who they lost to in two sets. Luckily, this didn't prevent the boys from playing in the semi-finals, who they won against CICV in three sets, moving on to the finals.
Since the girls lost both of their games that day, they had no chance of reaching the finals.
Later that very same day, CICV hosted a BBQ, where students enjoyed hot dogs, hamburgers and player volleyball and soccer for fun. Though it was a time to enjoy and have fun, CIPLC girls were not able to do so, since they were still shocked and disappointed with their results.
On Saturday, the last day, CIPLC girls played at 7:30am for the 5th place against CIC, which they won in only two sets. CIPLC girls played extremely well and realized, which is how they should’ve played on the previous games. “On the other games we were too nervous and we weren’t communicating well as a team. If we were as relaxed and cheered up, we would have reached the finals for sure”, said Andrea Martinez.
Having played their last game, the CIPLC girls painted their faces green with each of the CIPLC boys’ jersey number, and cheered for them in the finals.
CIPLC boys played the finals against ECA. ECA won both sets, even though CIPLC was only 2 points away from winning the second set.
At the end of the tournament, on the girls side, CICV won first place and CIPLC got 5th. On the boys side, ECA won 1st place while CIPLC boys were right behind in 2nd place. Andrea Martinez and Jesus Rodriguez won “All-Tournament Award” from their excellent performances as athletes in the CIPLC teams.
And so the first season of sports ended, with many surprises, disappointments and most importantly with lessons learned.
By: Carolina Franco