Lady Knights top opponents

A Mt. Carmel School 1 player eyes to return the ball to Saipan International School 2 during the second set of their game in the CCOPSA high school volleyball league at the SIS court in As Lito. (Roby N. Pamintuan)

Mount Carmel School claimed a pair of victories in the 2018-2019 Commonwealth Coalition of Private Schools Association High School Volleyball League yesterday.

Mt. Carmel 1 stymied SIS 2, nabbing a win over the Lady Geckos after only two sets, 26-24, 25-18, at the SIS court in As Lito.

The first set was a nail-biter, as the opposing teams were still getting the feel of each other’s game. The Lady Knights and the Lady Geckos were evenly matched in the opener as they engaged in a deadlock on five occasions (9-9, 14-14, 18-18, 23-23, 24-24). After breathing on each other’s neck, MCS persevered through the pressure and take the victory, as Alice Choi went for two consecutive clutch overhand serves that SIS 2 failed to receive.

Then for the the second set, the early stages of the match appeared to be another back-and-forth affair until MCS team captain Louisa Han stepped up to the serving line with the score at 7-6 in the Knights’ favor. Han went on to complete five consecutive serves, pushing the score to 12-6 and prompting SIS 2 coach Kristopher D’Alterio to call a timeout in an effort to halt the Knights’ momentum.

However, the Knights kept going when the game resumed, as Han this time drew help from Angela Jun and Keloney Virrey. Jun showcased her versatility by alternating setter duties with Han in the remainder of the game and making six serves in the second set. Virrey also provided the MCS 1 a steady service game with her string of three serves.

In other results, Mt. Carmel made it 2-0 yesterday in the girls division play, after its junior varsity team defeated Agape Christian School, 25-21, 25-19, at the Knights’ court in Chalan Kanoa.

Mt. Carmel’s JV squad secured its first win of the season after going 0-3, while the Lady Torchbearers stumbled to a 0-4 record.

Meanwhile, Grace Christian Academy was scheduled to host SIS boys team and SIS 1 (girls) yesterday, but both games were postponed due to the unavailability of a qualified referee. This was the second time the Eagles were not able to lace up for their matches because of the lack of game officials.

“The referee assigned to our game cannot come for some reasons,” GCA head coach Cesar Libut said. “The coaches decided to postpone the game because both schools don’t have available referees. We are going to reschedule this game in January.”

GCA will be moving on after the reset matches, as it will host Mt. Carmel on Tuesday. The boys varsity game will take place first at 3:30pm, while the girls match is slated for 4:30pm. Over at the Agape court in Middle Road, the hosts will challenge SIS boys and girls teams. Rounding out the Dec. 18 play date is the faceoff between SIS 2 and MCS JV, with the former hosting the latter at 3:30pm.