Dolphins 1 gets better of Manta Rays 1 in ‘rivalry game’

A Marianas High School 1 player jumps for a spike against Saipan Southern High School 1 during the Public School System Boys High School Volleyball League 2021-2022 at the MHS Gymnasium last Thursday. (LEIGH GASES)

In an exhilarating game between longtime rivals Saipan Southern High School and Marianas High School in the Public School System Boys High School Volleyball League 2021-2022 last Thursday, the Dolphins 1 conquered the Manta Rays 1 after three tough that had the usual partisan home crowd cheering and screaming and rattling the walls of the tightly packed and sweltering MHS Gymnasium.

MHS 1 drew first blood against SSHS 1, 21-16, but the Manta Rays 1 returned the favor in the second set with the same score. In the third and final set, both teams took each other’s best punch before the Dolphins 1 managed to eke out the win, 15-9.

In an interview after the game, MHS 1 coach Don Marshall Davis Cabrera said, “we took the hard way to victory. A lot of errors caused us to kind of get down on ourselves… But when we figured out what we needed to do, we were able to get back in our groove and earn some hard fought points.”

When asked what he can say about the rivalry between the two schools, as observed by the opposing crowd’s back-and forth cheering of their teams during the game, Cabrera said “it’s hard to say there’s a rivalry. The biggest part of the rivalry is the fact that I’m coaching MHS and my mom’s coaching Southern and that’s the biggest part of the rivalry. I’m a graduate of Southern and I’m glad that they got the volleyball program up and going, but I don’t want them to win. I want to win.”

“They put up a good effort and you know, I can say that it’s nice to see volleyball on the rise on the islands,” Cabrera added.

In the game between SSHS 2 and Mount Carmel School 2, the Manta Rays 2 were overmatched against the Knights after they were defeated in three sets. The first set score was 15-21. In the second set, the Manta Rays 2 came back and won 21-10, but ultimately lost in the third set, 15-10.

The sister team of MCS 2, undefeated MCS 1, played and won as well against the Saipan International School 1 in three sets. The first set score was 21-10, the second set score was 15-21 in favor of SIS, but finally, SIS couldn’t answer back in the third set as they lost, 15-5.

Kagman High School and SIS 1 played in a game where SIS 1 redeemed themselves after their loss against MCS 1. SIS 1 won after just two sets, with the first set score of 21-14 and the last set score of 21-18.

In the last game of the night between SIS 2 and MHS 1, MHS 1 continued their winning streak as they annihilated SIS 2 in a rapid-fire game in just two sets. MHS 1 won the first set with a blowout, 21-6, and finalized the win after the second set, where SIS 2 tried its best to force a rubber set, but their effort wasn’t enough, with a score of 21-18.

With MCS 1’s win last Thursday, the Knights are tied atop the win-loss standings at 4-0 with GCA (4-0), then MHS 1 (4-1), KHS (3-2), MHS 2 (2-2), MCS 2 (2-2), SIS 1 (2-3), SSHS 1 (1-3), MHS 3 (0-4), and SSHS 2 (0-4), SIS 2 (0-2).

The Public School System Boys High School Volleyball League 2021-2022 is being held with help from the Northern Mariana Islands Volleyball Association.