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Contrasting wins for MHS, GCA
League-leading Marianas High School and Grace Christian Academy defeated their respective foes in contrasting fashion in the all-varsity match in the 2014-2015 Marianas Interscholastic Sports Organization Girls Volleyball League yesterday at the MHS Gymnasium.
A Grace Christian Academy player spikes the ball, while her teammates look on in their varsity game against Saipan International School in the Marianas Interscholastic Sports Organization Girls Volleyball League yesterday at the Marianas High School Gymnasium. (Jon Perez)
MHS scored a quick 25-19, 25-8 victory over Kagman High School for its eighth straight win, while GCA had to grind out a 22-25, 25-21, 15-12 decision against Saipan International School to tie their victims and idle Mt. Carmel School for second to fourth spots with 5-3 slates.
The Lady Ayuyus put up a challenge in the first set as they battled the defending champions Lady Dolphins for every point before losing steam in the latter stages of the opening frame.
The Lady Dolphins zoomed to a 6-1 lead in the second and were never threatened after that, as the first set loss seemed to zap the energy out of Kagman.
The Lady Eagles, meanwhile, dropped the first set but made the necessary adjustments in the second to force a deciding frame.
The Geckos, who earlier dealt Kagman a 25-8, 27-25 beating in the 4:15pm first game, showed nerve of steel in the first set after surviving GCA’s comeback bid to move within one set of wrapping up the victory. The second half of the MISO Girls volleyball season now follows a best two-out-of-three sets format unlike in the early goings where teams have to play the entire three frames.
The Lady Geckos were in control of the second and enjoyed a slim 14-12 lead when they ran into a number of errors from which the Lady Eagles capitalized on.
GCA went on a 12-7 exchange after that to move within one point of wrapping up the set, 24-21. The Lady Eagles won the set after SIS’ Tiana Ranjo’s return sailed out of bounds.
The third frame remained a nip-and-tuck affair highlighted by long rallies. SIS, despite losing two points due to confusion on the backline players’ proper positions, went up, 12-10, and was poised to win the match.
GCA, however, called a timeout to talk things over and somehow break SIS’ momentum. When play resumed, the Lady Eagles scored the next five points with SIS’ back-to-back wrong receptions helping their opponents’ cause.
In other results, Mt. Carmel downed Saipan Southern High School, 25-20, 25-14, in another all-varsity match, while SIS JV defeated Kagman JV, 25-17, 14-25, 15-13. SSHS JV ended MHS JV’s four-game winning run with a 25-23, 25-27, 9-15 decision.
