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ASHSAA Boys Varsity Volleyball: Warriors vs Vikings for championship title

The stage is set. The teams are ready. Today are the finals of the American Samoa High School Athletic Association (ASHSAA) Boys Varsity Volleyball League. The Tafuna Warriors who are the #1 seeded team, came into the season just behind the defending champions, the Nu’uuli Voc-Tech Wildcats. But it was not long before the Warriors would show everyone that they meant business this year and dominated in every aspect, with the exception of one loss to the Faga’itua Vikings in the last meeting of these two teams on Sept. 28.

This past Wednesday evening, the #1 Warriors and the #2 Vikings earned their way to the ASHSAA Boys Varsity Championships when they defeated their opponents in the playoffs. The Warriors had a tough time when they met the #4 seeded Leone Lions to see who would advance to the finals.

The Lions came into the Warrior Nation gymnasium and did not play like the #4 seeded team, as they came out swinging stepping up their game keeping the Warriors on their toes throughout three hard fought sets. In the first set, the Warriors got off to a fast start and appeared that they would cruise to an easy victory, with a 21- 25 win.

However the Lions did not bow to pressure, coming back to tie the game at one set apiece by taking the second set, 25-21. In the last and final set, the Warriors appeared to be falling apart as the Lions’ momentum kept building. But with a few adjustments, the Warriors were able to walk away with the victory in the last set, at 21-25, earning their way to the finals against the Vikings.

In the other playoff game on Wednesday, the #2 Vikings battled it out with the #3 seeded Wildcats. In the first set, the defending champion Wildcats appeared to have gotten back to championship form as they defeated the Vikings in the first set convincingly, 25-18. Behind a pro Vikings crowd at Faga’itua High School, however, the Vikings was able to pull out a rally and take the next set 20-25; and in the final set, he Vikings were able to do the same, downing the defending champions 19-25 to advance to the finals.

Today with a scheduled starting time of 4:30 p.m. the #2 seeded Vikings will be traveling to Tafuna High School to take on the #1 seeded Warriors in a battle of ‘East versus West’ to see who will walk away with this year’s 2012- 2013 Boys Varsity Volleyball Championship Title.

In the Junior Varsity Division, there are no playoffs with the champions being determined by the most wins. This years ASHSAA Boys Junior Varsity Champions are the Warriors, with the Runners Up being the Lions, while the Samoana Sharks took the 3rd place spot overall.

ASHSAA Volleyball Coordinator Tumua Matu’u invites the public out to Tafuna High School today for this year’s championship game at Tafuna High School.