Agape 1 wins season opener

Agape Christian School 1 drew first blood in the middle school division of the 2018-2019 Commonwealth Coalition of Private Schools Association Volleyball League after outclassing Saipan International School in their three-set match yesterday at the ACS court.

The Torchbearers cruised to a 25-13 victory in the first set and then dropped the second, 23-25, before taking the deciding third, 15-9, to win their opener this season.

David Zheng delivered for Agape in the third set, as SIS could not break his serve. With Zheng steady with his service game, Agape raced to a 5-0 lead in the last set, prompting SIS coach Mili Saiki to sued for time. However, the brief break failed to halt Zheng’s momentum, as he scored two more points off his service and Agape got one when the Geckos’ return hit the net, giving the Torchbearers an 8-0 spread.

Opposing teams switched sides after that and SIS finally broke Zheng’s serve with David Zheng’s making a return to the backline. However, Agape kept control of the third set, as it still won the next exchange, 4-1, to move closer to clinching the victory in its season-opening game.

Then just went the Torchbearers thought the Geckos would be an easy picking, SIS mounted a comeback, thanks to Milan Goodwin. She gave Agape a dose of its own medicine, as the latter also failed to break the former’s service. Goodwin, who delivered the last two points in the Geckos’ close victory in the second set, recorded four of the Torchbearers’ 7 straight markers in the third-set rally. SIS got its two other points off an Agape wide serve and a return that hit the net, while Chung handed the Geckos their last point when he dropped the ball to an unguarded spot at the backline.

Sensing trouble after SIS cut the deficit to 4, 9-13, Agape’s coach called timeout, hoping to stop the bleeding. The Torchbearers did, as when the game resumed, SIS committed three touches after a rally, moving Agape a point away from winning the match. Agape went on to end the game in the ensuing play, as Chung’s return off Jenny Lin’s serve was wide off the right sideline.

Meanwhile, three other games were scheduled in the opening day of the middle school volleyball league. Grace Christian Academy 1 hosted Saipan Community School, while Agape 2 played against Seventh Day Adventist in the second match at the ACS court. GCA also hosted two games with GCA 2 scheduled to challenge Mt. Carmel School. GCA 2 is this season’s defending champion, as it slipped past MCS 1, 22-25, 25-10, 17-15, in the 2017-2018 finale.

The regular season of the middle school division will be a double-round robin affair, while a single elimination format will be in effect in the playoff round. Games are played every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Today, SDA will host Agape 1, while tomorrow’s pairings will be SCS vs SIS at SCS; MCS vs ACS 2 at Mt. Carmel; and GCA 2 vs GCA 1.