Island Wide playoff ride put aside

Just a few days after the Northern Mariana Islands Volleyball Association put the wraps on another successful edition of the Jam Attack indoor volleyball tournament, the organizers of the Island Wide Volleyball League are waiting for the completion of Holy Week to officially usher in the playoffs.

The Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium will host the first of the top eight men’s teams and the top six women’s squads who earned a right to advance to the postseason.

The pennant champions are fresh off of a second-place finish in the Jam Attack, as No Fear will headline a list of teams that gained valuable experience playing against the best of the CNMI and Guam last weekend, and their first competitor of the playoffs is eighth-seeded Floaters on Monday, March 28, at 6:30pm.

No Fear put together a near perfect season in which one of their two losses was attained via forfeit while much of the team participated in a South Pacific Mini Games qualifying tournament. They are the team to beat in the run to the finals.

The Floaters pulled off a couple of wins during the season that demonstrated that they can still play the game, and they will need the same type of inspired play if they hope to upset the regular season champs.

In the 7:30pm game, the regular season runner-ups will take on the seventh seeded Ol’Aces as the Managaha Chiefs plan to challenge for the league title. The Chiefs lost out on a chance to play No Fear in a one-game playoff when they failed to bump them off in the season finale.

They start their journey for revenge against a talented Ol’Aces team with plenty of ability that lacks consistency. The team of track stars and basketball standouts was in contention during every game they played this season, but more often than not they were unable to dig deep enough to pull out a win the close games.

Day 2 of the playoffs takes place on Wednesday, March 30, when the Lost Boyz exchange blows with the NMC Proa at 6:30pm. The Lost Boyz were deemed as the early favorites to win the regular season title, but suffered a series of defeats due to manpower issues, scheduling miscues, and substitutions. Though they posses some of the best leapers in the CNMI, the Lost Boyz have to battle back through the middleweights if they plan to return to the upper echelon of the IWVBL.

The NMC Proa is a team that found difficulty putting a collection of talent together and forming it into a solid team. The squad of spikers has all of the ability that they need to get over the hump, but suffer from a lack of winning experience in high-profile contests.

The final game of the men’s first round takes place an hour later, as the Chuukanos take on the Rocball crossover Shag squad.

The Chuukanos impressed the lot when they gave team Haggan from Guam a run for their money Saturday morning during the Jam Attack, and may have what it takes to get deep into the postseason and do some damage. Shag suffers from a case of “Proa-it is” as well, and needs to get a few bounces to go their way during the big games to achieve their goal of a win in the finals.

The women get their shot to play on opening week on the south court, as the third seeded Dragons and the Haz Been brush off the dust that has collected on their sneakers since their regular season came to a close well over a month ago on Monday, March 28, at 6:30pm. The Dragons utilized a mixture of leadership and communication to make their way up through the standings, but they fell shy of the mark set by the She Devils and Pikan Gaga.

They will be playing the Haz Been in the early game to determine who will advance to play against the She Devils in the second round on Wednesday, March 30, at 6:30pm as well.

The late game will determine who will advance to take on the regular season champs, as Bootylicious and T-8 hit the rubberized surface of the Ada Gym later that night at 7:30pm.

Bootylicious has a combination of experience and talent that they used to their advantage in their wins, but they failed to earn enough wins to get a first round bye, while T-8 has a certain hunger for the title that only young, up-and-coming teams have.

In the meantime, Pikan Gaga will sit back and relax until they face their first tests of the postseason a week later, on Monday, April 4.

For more information about the IWVBL, contact league coordinator Joe Mettao by calling 664-2508/3.