Lady Geckos slither past Lady Knights

Saipan International School 1 coach Mili Saiki huddles with her players during a timeout in their game against Mount Carmel School’s junior varsity team in the CCOPSA volleyball league last Wednesday at the SIS court in As Lito. (Roby N. Pamintuan)

Saipan International School 1 warded off Mount Carmel School’s junior varsity team in two sets, 25-17, 25-13, during the girls high school division match in the 2018-2019 Commonwealth Coalition of Private Schools Association Volleyball League last Wednesday at Lady Geckos court in As Lito.

While MCS JV showed some flashes of brilliance in the game, SIS’ commitment to being consistent with the fundamentals allowed the hosts to cruise to a home victory in straight sets.

The Lady Geckos’ Maria Gregoire closed out the match with a string of five serves, while her teammates rallied together on defense during her streak, providing the former the opportunities she needed to score in the deciding moments. Sally Lai, Sevina Hwang, and Cindy Kim also displayed their serving prowess for SIS throughout the second and final set.

Noreen Vidal, on the other hand, was the lone bright spot for the Lady Knights in the second set, as she was able to make multiple overhand serves and spikes in a losing effort.

Earlier in the opening set, Malika Miyawaki showcased her versatile skillset, as she successfully converted many of her spikes and serves into points to give SIS a good start. Cindy Kim and Lai then also helped increase the Lady Geckos’ lead with the latter delivering the serve that closed the curtains in the first set.

Meanwhile, one more match was played at the Lady Geckos’ turf with Grace Christian Academy also notching a straight set victory over SIS 2, 25-17, 25-12.

In other results, MCS’ varsity team manhandled Agape Christian School in the girls division match at the latter’s court in Gualo Rai, 25-17, 25-16. In the boys division, it was Agape’s turn to get the win after edging the Knights in two closely fought sets, 25-21, 29-27.

The Knights hope to bounce back from the sorry loss to Agape when they take on SIS at the Geckos home court this afternoon. In the girls division match, it will be SIS 2 versus Agape. Other matches today will have SIS battling MCS varsity and GCA dueling MCS junior varsity in the girls division.

Including today’s games, there is one more week left for the league’s regular season, while make-up matches are also scheduled for next week. The start date of the playoff round has yet to be determined.