Mwaliyas draw first blood in high school Rocball finals

SKN entered the World Organized Rocball High School League finals as the heavy favorites yesterday afternoon, but left searching for answers as Mwaliyas pounded the ball furiously to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five championship series.

Mwaliyas leaned on the hot gun of Pedro Iguel and despite dropping the first set, managed to steam back and score when needed to edge the opposition in the next two sets before dominating the fourth to close the match with a 49-36 victory at the Marianas High School Gymnasium.

At first, though, it was SKN players that had everything going their way as they opened up strong in the first set. After an ace by Iguel leveled the score at 3-3, SKN went on an impressive run spearheaded by two aces and a goal by regular season heavy hitter Danny Peter and a kee by Sheila Francisco that kept their opponents scoreless for a 12-3 lead and set point.

Mwaliyas, however, refused to give in and fought their way back into contention, eventually knotting the score at 12 apiece on an ace by Ken Tanzawa.

SKN finally managed to seal the set during their fourth set point opportunity when Dior Jones came up big from behind the service line with an ace, 15-12.

Building on confidence from their late run in the previous set, Mwaliyas took no chances and began pouring in points from the get go of the second set, picking up an early 3-0 lead.

SKN battled back and after tying the game at 3-3, the two teams matched each other until Iguel ignited Mwaliyas with an ace to make it 8-6. Another kill by Iguel and an SKN error enabled Mwaliyas to have set point. Iguel then capped the set with a kee for a 12-7 win and a slim 24-22 lead in the overall tally.

Down 3-5 in the third set, Iguel again came through and smashed a goal and an ace to give his team the upper hand, 8-5. A couple of aces by Peter and a mishap by Mwaliyas enabled SKN to pull even at 10-10 before Iguel turned back the opposition with a set-ending kee, 12-10. Heading into the final set of regulation, Mwaliyas held a slim four-point breathing room, 36-32.

With their backs against the wall, SKN went on an early run in the fourth set and was up 4-3 when Mwaliyas stole the show. Another goal by Iguel, an SKN error, and an ace by Tanzawa gave Mwaliyas a 9-4 lead. Tanzawa then followed his ace with a xunk and elected to subtract SKN points, making the score 9-2.

It was cruise control from there as SKN couldn’t recover and lost the set, 4-13.

With fellow high-flyer Jeremy Winkfield sidelined after the first set, Iguel carried the load and led Mwaliyas while finishing as the game’s heavy hitter with 20 points on two aces, a xunk, four kees, and goals. Tanzawa also had a solid outing with eights points after hitting three aces and a xunk.

Peter led SKN with three aces, a xunk, and a kee for 10 points.

SKN will try to avenge their loss and pull even in the series as the finals resumes today with Game 2 at 12:30pm.