JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas –
The sixth-seeded Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Agency defeated top-seeded 59th Medical Operations Group 21-13, 21-16 to capture the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland women's intramural volleyball champion title Tuesday at the Warhawk Fitness Center.
The underrated AFISRA women's squad wasted no time forging its way to its first intramural volleyball championship, opening up an early 4-1 lead in the first set.
Both teams traded points before a thunderous spike by Colleen Cech put AFISRA up 9-6. Cech was the key to AFISRA's first set win, scoring the agency's final four points to close out the set.
The eventual champions had no problem maintaining momentum in the second set, building a 9-2 lead off Med Ops' turnovers.
Down 10-3, the 59th Med Ops mustered up a little offense to cut the lead to three, 10-7.
AFISRA pulled away once again, scoring four straight points to build a 14-7 lead. Cech notched up two of her three second-set points during AFISRA's short scoring spurt.
Not withering away, Med Ops struck back with a run of its own. The medical group scored seven of the next 10 points to shorten the lead to three at 17-14.
Med Ops turnovers again proved costly as AFISRA outscored the 59th 4-2, closing the door on any hopes for a comeback win in the second set.
Earlier in the day, the underdog AFISRA squad defeated No. 2 seed 802nd Mission Support Group to advance to the volleyball finals.
The champions finished the women's intramural volleyball season with a 3-3 regular season record.
"It's amazing to know we were underdogs coming into the playoffs. Making it through to the finals and winning a championship is gratifying," said AFISRA coach Angelica Silva-Garza.
"How my players played was outstanding," Silva-Garza said. "Throughout the season, they never gave up on team effort.
"In the end, this was a testimony to the team's hard work as we came together to win a championship."
Teammate Edith Coon agreed with the underdog assessment.
"Everyone loves an underdog," she said. "It just proves the point that it is not over until the last buzzer sounds."
Silva-Garza said the team's confidence was built "point by point" as AFISRA went on to defeat two of the best teams in its league, the 802nd MSG and Medical Ops, to win the JBSA-Lackland women's intramural volleyball championship.
"We fought for every point we scored and that's how we got to the finals," she said.
"In a losing effort, there is potential to be frustrated and make mistakes. Whether we were winning or we were losing, we stayed positive throughout the season and in the playoffs," said Silva-Garza as she went on to describe her team in one word, "Amazing!"