Mwaliyas move a step closer to title

After leaving the court the day before stunned by a dramatic block that found the goal, which enabled SKN to knot the championship series at a game apiece, Mwaliyas came storming back yesterday and moved a step closer to winning the World Organized Rocball High School League championsip.

Mwaliyas got a huge lift from Jeremy Winkfield and won three of four sets in a 45-35 victory at the Marianas High School Gym. The victory gave Mwaliyas a 2-1 lead in the best-of five series.

Both teams were neck and neck in the opening set, each trying to pick up the early advantage, however, kees and kills by Winkfield allowed Mwaliyas to take the set, 12-9.

Winkfield and company continued to pound away at the start of the second set, penetrating the SKN defense like a hot knife through butter for an 8-0 lead.

That’s when things took a turn as SKN scored the next two points, and after Mwaliyas added another point to their corner, 9-2, regular season heavy hitter Danny Peter exploded for consecutive goals to cut the deficit to just a point, 8-9.

J.J. Malite followed with a kill to tie the score. Sheila Francisco kept her hot streak from the service area, giving Mwaliyas a hard time getting a good return before SKN closed the set with a 12-9 comeback win.

Entering the third set, SKN and Mwaliyas were all tied up in the overall tally, 21-21.

The tightly fought battle continued as neither team was willing to give up ground. Mwaliyas, however, went berserk from the service area and knocked in three aces and Winkfield and Pedro Iguel bruised the ball for several kills to put their team a set away from icing the win, 13-9.

It was all Mwaliyas from then on despite a mishap on their first serve attempt of the fourth set. Winkfield added another kee to his name, Iguel guarded the net for several points, and Darrel Roligat sizzled for two aces as Mwaliyas strolled with ease to an 11-5 clincher.

Winkfield led Mwaliyas and finished the game’s heavy hitter with 12 points on six kees, while Peter led SKN with eight points on his two goals and a kee.

With the loss, the SKN players find themselves in a must-win situation in Game 4, which will serve up on Tuesday afternoon at 12:30pm. A win by SKN will force a do-or-die Game 5, while a loss will result in Mwaliyas bringing home the bacon.

The World Organized Rocball Community League will also be played Tuesday night at the MHS Gym beginning at 7pm.

For more information, contact sport creator Jim Feger at 664-3810.