Even the defending Far East Girls Class A volleyball tournament champion got a chance to vindicate itself during Redemption Week.

Osan American’s spikers rebounded from a subpar third-place finish in last month’s Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference by repeating their Class A title on Friday, surviving a two-match final to down Morrison Christian Academy of Taiwan for the second straight year.

"KAIAC didn’t go smoothly for us," Osan senior and captain Celine Baldevia said. "So we tried to do our best in this, and we succeeded."

That success also meant a landmark triumph for DODDS-Pacific schools in general. In the 33-year history of Far East girls volleyball tournaments, no DODDS-Pacific team had repeated until the Cougars did it Friday.

"It’s just amazing. So refreshing," Cougars junior Nicole Sparks said.

It wasn’t easy. The double-elimination playoffs went to a second championship match when the Mustangs rallied from a two-set deficit to beat the Cougars 23-25, 23-25, 25-23, 26-24, 15-11.

Osan settled matters 25-13, 26-24, 23-25, 25-13 in the title-clinching second match.

"Morrison brought their game this year. That made it more challenging," Baldevia said of a Mustangs squad that rallied behind tournament Most Valuable Player Rachel Schulz.

"She carried the team with her hitting and passing," Baldevia said.

Solid defensive play from 2007 holdovers Sparks and Angela Thompson, the steady setting of Baldevia and Laura Vega and surprising net play from 5-foot-11 newcomer Ieva Bytautaite helped the Cougars.

"We never had that kind of height before," said Baldevia of a team that averaged 5-3 without Bytautaite. Baldevia called her addition "extremely important. She’s very useful."

After Osan surged ahead in the first two sets of the first match, the Mustangs did a better job of controlling the ball and keeping the pressure on the Cougars, keying the rally and forcing the second match.

"We never had any doubt," Sparks said. "We just had to step up and try harder than any time before."

In the clincher, the Cougars regained their edge in the first set, then rallied from a 10-3 second-set deficit to go up 2-0.

The teams battled evenly in a third-set Mustangs triumph, then Osan stormed ahead 22-6 in the deciding fourth set.

Winning the second title was more special than the first, Sparks said, because of the youth of the team. Only four players returned from last year’s squad

"I’m extremely proud of all of them," Sparks said.

Falcons battle Kinnick with eye on next season

Denny Hilgar at season’s beginning referred to his 29th year as Seoul American coach as the "mother of all rebuilding jobs," following the Falcons’ bronze- medal finish in the Far East Class AA tournament.

With just two returners from that squad, his Falcons found themselves finishing in the top eight for a fourth straight year.

They played Nile C. Kinnick on Saturday for seventh place, the highest finish for a DODDS-Pacific team in this Far East event.

"I’m pleasantly surprised at how we did," Hilgar said.

The team had its moments of success and moments "when the team didn’t show," he said.

"The talent was there. It was a matter of getting the chemistry together," he said.

"We’ve grown as a team this week more than we have all season."

Five players return next season for the Falcons.

"This was the year of experience we needed," Hilgar said

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