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Whispering Palms vs SIS in early rematch
Saipan International School’s Luther Lizama receives a serve during their title game against Whispering Palms in the COPSSA middle school volleyball league last year at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
Whispering Palms and SIS Blue will meet at the former’s home court in Navy Hill at 3:30pm to kick off the hostilities in the middle school volleyball competition. WPS is this season’s defending champion, as it defeated SIS Blue in last year’s finale, 25-23, 24-22, for its second straight championship. Joining WPS and SIS Blue in the battle for the middle school championship this season are SIS White, Seventh Day Adventist, Saipan Community School, Grace Christian Academy, Mount Carmel School, and Mariana Baptist Academy.
MBA made it to the semifinals last year, but lost to the eventual champion in the Final Four, while GCA also fell to SIS in the other semis pairing. The SIS Geckos and WPS Terns marched into the semifinals after eliminating Mt. Carmel and SDA, respectively, while MBA booted out SCS, and GCA knocked out SIS White.
Meanwhile, the two other opening games this season will take place at SDA’s court in Chalan Kiya and Mt. Carmel’s turf at Chalan Kanoa. The Knights will host the GCA Eagles with their match starting also at 3:30pm. Over at Chalan Kiya, SDA will challenge Saipan Community School in another 3:30pm match.
Two other teams, MBA and SIS White, will have their debut games next Thursday. MBA will head to Navy Hill to face Whispering Palms, while SIS White will take on host SDA. The two other matches in the Sept. 11 playdate will have SIS Blue squaring off against GCA at SIS court in As Lito and Saipan Community School hosting Mount Carmel School in its Susupe court.
The eight teams will play in a two-round robin regular season and playoff format will be determined at the conclusion of the elimination round. Each match will be played at 3:30pm with four games scheduled every Tuesday and Thursday and one match every Wednesday.
Meanwhile, COPSSA will still hold separate competitions for high school volleyball with SIS organizing the league. The Geckos’ Mili Saiki said the schedule and other details of the high school volleyball league will be announced once the middle school season is completed. SIS are the defending champions of both the girls and boys divisions, winning over GCA and Mt. Carmel, respectively, in last year’s title matches.
