Ol’Aces crowned IWVBL champions

One week after they started a chain of upsets by scalping the Managaha Chiefs, Eli Rangamar and his band of seventh-place bumpers, setters, and spikers chopped down the Chuukanos in four sets to win the championship of the Island Wide Volleyball League men’s division Wednesday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Though the Ol’Aces were never favored in all three of their playoff contests, they managed to emerge victorious with a mixture of perseverance, team spirit, and good communication. They also received standout performances from Jeremy Winkfield and Jack Kabiriel.

Winkfield hammered out three kills in each set for a total of 12, while Kabriel finished with two aces and seven kills—six of which were part of a fourth set in which he was the dominating force.

After edging the Chuukanos 25-23 in the first set, the Ol’Aces took a solid two sets to nil lead in the best-of-five contest, and it looked as if the team from Capitol Hill would check out of the finals as quickly as the other Ol’Aces opponents.

Just one point away from sending everyone home from the Oleai facility early, the Ol’Aces missed out on an opportunity to end the game in a three-set sweep when they let the Chuukanos come back to wrest control of their 24-20 lead to extend the match to a fourth race-to-25 set.

“I think we kind of under estimated them, we thought we had it because we only needed one point and got kind of lackadaisical. In the fourth set we were a bit more determined and focused because we were getting tired from everything. I’m glad we pulled it through,” said Rangamar.

The fourth set didn’t start out well for the Ol’Aces, as they fell behind 4-0, but the Chuukanos committed three unforced errors to let them back in the game, and ended up in a 5-4 hole two plays later. The lead would eventually trade hands several times over the course of the set with neither team being able to gain a decided advantage, but Kabiriel physically refused to let the Chuukanos win a second set by scrambling all over the court. The track star took several feather-like passes from Jerry Ayuyu and converted them into powerful strikes, and threw his arms out to field blocked balls to allow the Ol’Aces to complete their Cinderella playoff run.

Rangamar credited his squad’s short-term memory for the shaking off the third-set meltdown and rebounding to win the championship.

“When we made a mistake we celebrated so we didn’t think about the mistake. It picked up our spirits and brought them down at the same time. That’s why every time we did something good we went ‘Down low, down low.’ Not high fives, but low fives.”

The Ol’Aces were underdogs throughout the entire playoffs because they were only able to win four games during the regular season, but Rangamar said that his team was able to play free and relaxed without the burden of high expectations.

“With our standings we thought we had nothing to lose. They were the ones with the pressure. That’s the attitude we brought in here—just have fun. I hope the crowd enjoyed it because I enjoyed it.”

The fourth-set flurry from Kabiriel turned out to be the deciding factor in the choice for the most valuable player, as the multi-sport athlete was awarded with his third honor since receiving back-to-back nods in the 1997 and 1998 seasons.

“This is my best sport, and I only left it when I started training for track and field. It just felt powerful to finish the game strong like that,” he said.

In the consolation game, pennant champion No Fear lost out to the NMC Proa in three sets to complete their fall from grace to third runner up.