MCS, SIS 1 take openers

Mt. Carmel School varsity team’s Francesca Bucalig, right, sets up teammate Louisa Han, left, while Eun Seo Choi looks on during their opening game against MCS junior varsity team in the 2018-2019 Commonwealth Coalition of Private Schools Association Volleyball League yesterday at the Knights court in Chalan Kanoa. (Roby N. Pamintuan)

Mt. Carmel School’s girls varsity team and Saipan International School 1 drew first blood, as the high school division games in the 2018-2019 Commonwealth Coalition of Private Schools Association Volleyball League finally kicked off yesterday.

The Lady Knights and Lady Geckos were among the eight squads scheduled to play in the opening day of the league that took a while to start due to the damage left by Super Typhoon Yutu on Saipan. With a longer than usual waiting time, all teams were eager to take part in the volleyball competition.

“We were really excited for this CCOPSA season, but then the storm came, and we weren’t sure if the tournament would still be happening,” MCS varsity team captain Louisa Han said. “After hearing that the tournament was back up, we were really excited for this.”

MCS’ varsity squad took on its junior varsity team at the Knights’ grass court in Chalan Kanoa with the former staving off the latter in three tightly contested sets, 25-19, 21-25, 16-14.

In the first set, the Lady Knights’ teams exchanged leads until Eun Seo Choi hit four consecutive aces to help MCS’ varsity squad secure the opener. MCS’ junior varsity team then fought back in the second set behind the serving prowess of Kaia Travilla and Aleia Santos, who completed five and four consecutive serves, respectively, to contribute to the victory that sent the game into the deciding third,

In the last set of the Knights’ in-house contest, Teeon Camacho and Katelyn Rabang combined for nine aces, pushing the varsity team to a comfortable 14-6 lead. With the game on the line, the junior varsity squad’s Gail Vidal caught fire from the server’s line and delivered eight straight aces, which carried her team to a 14-14 deadlock. Vidal’s efforts would ultimately not be enough to give them the victory, as the more experienced varsity team finished off their younger counterparts.

Meanwhile, SIS 1 and 2 also played their home openers yesterday with the former sweeping the latter, 25-22, 25-16.

As for the remaining season-opening games, Grace Christian Academy’s boys and girls teams were scheduled to face off Agape Christian School yesterday at the Eagles turf, but the pair of matches had to be rescheduled due to the unavailability of referees.

Action in the high school volleyball will continue tomorrow with GCA’s girl squad taking on SIS 2 at the Eagles home court at 3:30pm and MCS’ girls junior varsity team hosting SIS 1 also at 3:30pm. For the two other matches, Agape’s boys and girls team will square off against MCS (varsity team in the girls) at the Torchbearers court in Middle Road.