Finals rematch in middle school v-ball

Grace Christian Academy 1’s Duane Torres, left, and Sebastian Camacho both go for the spike during the second set of their semis game against Mt. Carmel School 1 yesterday at the GCA court in Navy Hill. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Grace Christian Academy 1 and Saipan International School 1 arranged a finals rematch after winning their respective playoff games in the middle school division of the 2016-2017 Coalition of Private Schools Sports Association Volleyball League yesterday.

The Eagles swept Mt. Carmel School 1, 25-10, 25-17, at the GCA court in Navy Hill, while over at SIS’ turf in As Lito, the Geckos had a similar two-set semis victory against GCA 2, 25-11, 25-23. The winner-take-all championship game will be played today at GCA, beginning at 3:30pm.

With their Final Four triumph over the Knights, the Eagles did not only earn a return trip to the finals, but also kept their perfect record intact this season—20-0. The Cesar Libut-coached GCA 1 swept the double-round-robin regular season, posting an 18-0 slate before defeating Agape Christian School in the first round of the playoffs and then MCS 1 in the semis.

“The magic number for us is 21. We want to keep that perfect record,” Libut said.

The GCA 1 coach added that getting back at SIS is also a big motivation to the Eagles when they take on the defending champion SIS 1 in the finals. The Geckos outlasted GCA in the finals of the 2015-2016 season, 25-18, 13-25, 15-6, extending the Eagles title drought in the middle school division to four years. The last time GCA ruled the division was in the 2011-2012 season when it swept Whispering Palms in the finals, 29-27, 25-16.

The Eagles moved one step closer to another finals appearance after dominating MCS 1 in the first set. In the second set, MCS 1 gave GCA a good fight. MCS took the early 3-1 lead, prompting Libut to call a timeout just a few minutes into the game.

The quick timeout benefited the Eagles, as they started to settle down and managed to build a 10-3 advantage. GCA scored seven unanswered points with Joshua Pajarillaga setting up Duane Torres and Sebastian Camacho for the spikes and the three female players on the squad—Sabrina Dilse, Katriel Saures, and Hye Jin Elliot—consistently receiving MCS 1’s returns.

With GCA threatening to pull away, it was Knights coach Francis San Nicolas’ turn to call a timeout and when the game resumed, MCS 1 made a rally, 7-11, behind the strong serves of Cody Foreman.

A soft tap near the net from Torres swung momentum back to GCA, which gained cushion anew, 17-8, as Torres and company began to score off their spikes again. However, the Knights refused to give up that easily and won the next exchanges to move within four, 17-21. Foreman again delivered for the Knights, while Merrick Toves got a couple of points off his overhand serves.

With MCS making another comeback, Torres came to GCA’s rescue and scored the remaining four points with the last one coming off a booming spike that dropped to the unguarded backline.