MCS, Agape reach semis

Mt. Carmel School’s Louisa Han hits the ball during their playoff game against Saipan International School 2 in the CCOPSA volleyball league yesterday at the MCS court in Chalan Kanoa. (Roby N. Pamintuan)

Mount Carmel School’s varsity team and Agape Christian School advanced to the semifinals of the girls division of the 2018-2019 Commonwealth Coalition of Private Schools Association Volleyball League after sweeping their respective opponents yesterday.

The Lady Knights were the first ones to earn a semis ticket, as they eliminated Saipan International School 2 at the former’s home turf, 25-19, 25-15.

After a close win in the first set, MCS Varsity starters fought through heightened wind conditions and exhibited their versatility and exemplary teamwork to notch a much easier victory. Throughout the game, Lady Knights coach Shawn Davis constantly reminded her frontliners to be consistent with their spikes and tips. This aggressive strategy proved to be too much to handle for the Lady Geckos, as their receivers frequently mishandled the bumps and passes.

“You’re supposed to play safe, but you should always kind of think of it in an attacking position,” Davis said. “We had an aggressive approach, but we still had to play it smart and safe.”

Earlier in the first set, Princess Alcantara and Angela Jun got MCS into a strong start after excelling from the server’s position, with the former racking up four consecutive serves and the latter slamming three uninterrupted over-handers. Lady Knights captain Louisa Han led by example with her back-to-back serves at the 23-19 mark to seal the deal in the opening set.

With the victory, the Lady Knights set up a semis game against a much tougher Lady Geckos crew—SIS 1—and Davis is hoping to see the same aggressiveness from her players.

“They need to do exactly what they did today—play it smart, and play aggressively,” she said.

Meanwhile, in the tailend of the playoff doubleheader at the MCS court, the No. 5 seed Agape ended MCS Junior Varsity’s playoff run after pulling off an upset over the No. 4 rank team, 25-12, 25-21.

Agape had only one win going into the playoffs and narrowly beat SIS 2 in the tiebreak for the No. 5 spot, while MCS JV earned a 4-6 slate in the preliminary.

“The girls are so happy,” Agape coach Ana Arellano said after stunning the Lady Knights. “They can’t stop talking about it.”

Next up for Agape is the heavily favored Grace Christian Academy—the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. The Lady Eagles will host the Lady Torchbearers in the semis match today at 3:30pm. The other semis game between SIS 1 and MCS Varsity will also take place at 3:30pm at the Lady Geckos court in As Lito.

In the boys division semis, GCA will play MCS today at the Eagles court in Navy Hill, while SIS will host Agape.