Hopwood sweeps volleyball titles

A Hopwood 3 player tips the ball back to Dandan 1 during their game in the Public School System Interscholastic Volleyball Tournament last Saturday at the Oleai Sports Complex Field. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Hopwood Middle School ruled the Public School System Interscholastic Volleyball Tournament after clinching a pair of championships last Saturday at the Oleai Sports Complex Field.

Hopwood 3 secured the boys division crown after beating Dandan Middle School 2 in the finals, while Hopwood 1 prevailed over Hopwood 3 in the girls title showdown.

Hopwood 3 lived up to expectations, as after topping the pool play of the boys division competition last month, it went undefeated in the double-elimination playoffs to lord it over in the six-team field. Hopwood 3 first downed Dandan 1 and then defeated Dandan 2 in the winner’s bracket semis to notch the first finals berth.

Dandan 2 marched into the semis after edging Tinian, which was then eliminated from the tournament after bowing to Dandan 3.

The win over Tinian allowed Dandan 3 to earn a second crack at Dandan 1 after the latter prevailed in their first meeting. Dandan 3 then got back at Dandan 1 to challenge Dandan 2 in a battle for the second finals berth and the right to face Hopwood 3 in the finals.

In the girls division, Hopwood 1 and 3, which were the Top 2 finishers in the pool play, moved a win away from advancing to the finals after outclassing Tinian and Hopwood 2, respectively, at the start of the double-elimination contest.

Tinian and Hopwood 2, earlier, won their first game with the former topping Dandan 2 and the latter outlasting Dandan 1, to march into the second round. Then in the semis, Hopwood 1 and 3 collided with the former winning to barge into the title game, while Hopwood 3 had to go though the loser’s bracket and eliminate Tinian to earn the last finals ticket.

Meanwhile, with the middle school volleyball tournament done, PSS will hold the playoffs for the co-ed elementary 4×4 and the high school 3×3 basketball competitions this Saturday.

The elementary 4×4 had its pool play last Saturday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium with the 13 teams spread out in three pools. William S. Reyes Elementary School, Koblerville Elementary, and Garapan fielded three teams each, while San Vicente and Kagman entered two apiece.

The high school 3×3 had its pool play late last month at the Marianas High School Gymnasium with Kagman 1 and MHS 2 topping their respective groups in the boys division and MHS 1 doing the same in the girls field. Saipan Southern High School and Da’Ok also saw action in the pool play, while Tinian and Rota are invited to join this weekend’s double-elimination playoffs.