MCS kicks off playoff round

A Mt. Carmel School player serves to Saipan International School 1 during a make-up game in the CCOPSA volleyball league yesterday at the SIS court in As Lito. (Roby N. Pamintuan)

With the regular season games in the books, the stage is set for the playoff round of the 2018-2019 Commonwealth Coalition of Private Schools Association Volleyball League.

Mt. Carmel School will host the first wave of playoff matches today with its varsity team taking on Agape Christian School at 3:30pm and the Lady Knights’ junior varsity squad meeting Saipan International School 2 at 4:30pm. The winners of the pair of matches at the MCS court in Chalan Kanoa will advance to the semifinals, joining Grace Christian Academy and SIS 1.

The Lady Eagles perched atop the rankings with a 9-1 record to take the automatic semis berth, while SIS 1 got the other outright Final Four slot after placing second in the final team standings with its 8-2 card. MCS Varsity penciled in as the No. 3 seed with its 7-3 record and was followed by MCS JV (4-6), SIS 2 (2-8) and Agape (1-8). MCS JV finished fourth in the rankings after outclassing SIS 2 in a make-up game, 21-25, 25-21, 15-9, yesterday at the Lady Geckos court in As Lito.

The winner of the MCS JV versus SIS 2 game will challenge GCA in the semis tomorrow at the Lady Eagles court at 4:30pm, while over at the SIS court, the Lady Geckos will duel in the other semis tiff the victor in the MCS Varsity-Agape playoff match.

Meanwhile, the semis matches in the boys division will also take place tomorrow with GCA squaring off against MCS at the Eagles court and SIS hosting Agape. GCA finished first in the preliminary round with its 5-1 record, while SIS came in at close second with its 4-2 slate. Agape was ranked third with an even 3-3 record, while the winless MCS was at the bottom.

The Geckos and Torchbearers will be an interesting pairing, as they split their games in the regular season. While Agape had the upper hand in their first meeting, SIS had the last laugh after beating the Torchbearers in their second faceoff and clinching the No. 2 seed in the process.

“We were prepared and we executed what we practiced, which led to victory,” SIS captain Junhee Lee said, adding that their victory was crucial. “Because of this win, we got the second seed…However, we did not stop there, as we need to get ready for the playoffs right away.”

“Another thing that we will be focusing on is our communication. It is one of the most important things in volleyball and I believe that better communication will lead to better plays,” Lee said.

The championship games in the boys and girls divisions will be played on Feb. 6 and will be hosted by the higher seeded teams.