Saipan Tribune

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Veterans, Jumpers advance to rocball finals

The Veterans and Jumpers swept their respective semis foes to march into the finals of the 2012-2013 Rocball Fall League.

The Veterans ousted the Teachers in the best-of-three semis series played last week at the Marianas High School Gymnasium, while the Jumpers also recorded a sweep versus the Smack Dat in the other Final Four pairing. The Jumpers and Veterans will square off in a best-of-five championship showdown.

The Jumpers took the easier way to the finals after juicing out Smack Dat in Games 1 and 2. A juiced-out victory is given to the team that won the fourth set and also had the lead at the end of regulation. In Game 1, the Jumpers prevailed in the first two sets, dropped and third, but won the fourth for a 48-33 triumph.

In Game 2, the Jumpers and Smack Dat split the four sets, but the former stole the win after shutting out the latter in the final set. Smack Dat was still ahead after the third set, 31-29, before the Jumpers caught the former off guard in the finale.

In the other semis pairing, the Veterans cruised to a 50-32 victory in Game 1. The eventual finalists took the first two sets, 12-9, 14-4, before the Teachers recovered in the third set, 13-11. The Veterans then avoided an upset with an 11-6 triumph in the fourth set.

In Game 2, the Teachers fought hard and forced an o-kon (overtime). The Veterans moved closer to a finals stint after sweeping the first three set, but the Teachers were not ready to give up and prevailed in the fourth set to send Game 2 in overtime. In the extra period, the Veterans needed to win only one set went on to end the Teachers' hopes for a Game 3 with a 7-0 victory in overtime.

Meanwhile, Rocball creator Jim Feger said visiting students from Yokohama, Japan, will be playing against MHS players either this Thursday or Friday as part of the schools cultural and sports exchange program.

In other Rocball updates, Feger said he is waiting for results of Indian's national U14 and U18 girls competition and the national certification clinic for referees.