Race for first place remains tight

The race for first place in the ongoing 7th Annual Miller Lite Coed Four-Person Beach Volleyball League remained tight as four teams continued to share the top spot.

Keeping pace with Got Beer? and America F@#& Yeah! Were Hot Myx and Galuti as both teams continued to perform well and earned their fifth win in six games Tuesday night at the Pacific Islands Club sandpit.

The Hot Myx crew won most of the long rallies and got clutch kills from veteran Nan Inthraluk to chew up Pugua Time in all three sets.

Inthraluk and company were on a roll right from the opening serve and quickly grabbed a 4-0 lead in the first set before allowing the opposition to put a point on their corner.

Pugua Time managed to close the gap courtesy of several hustle plays, unfortunately, their efforts were not enough to shut down the charge by Intraluk, Sia Dela Cruz, Apple Samson, and Gordon Odoshi as Hot Myx steamed to an 11-8 win.

With momentum on their corner, Hot Myx continued to fire on all cylinders and got off to a 3-0 start in the second set. Pugua Time put up a decent fight, however, they were not able to rattle their opponents, whose sharp play enabled them to secure the victory, 11-3. Not helping Pugua Time were several miscues that Hot Myx gladly took advantage of.

It was cruise control from then on for the Hot Myx smackers, who duplicated their second set effort with an 11-3 clincher in the third set.

For their part, Galuti was given a run for their money but recovered just in time to notch another win.

Galuti came ready to play and showed it early by dominating the first set for an 11-6 win, but the Puff Puff Pass players remained determined, kept their composure, and returned the favor in the second set to pull even with an 11-5 win.

Not ready to fall to second place, Galuti shifted to turbo mode and went back to its dominating ways to survive the scare, 11-6.

The loss was the third in seven games for the Puff masters.

Meanwhile, Namete leveled their win-loss record to 3-3 after fighting off a valiant effort by Saipan International School, which dropped to 1-5.

The two were neck and neck in the opening set, with SIS pressing the right buttons in the late goings to post an 11-9 win.

The tide changed, though, as Namete bounced back with a fury and scored the win by taking the final two sets, 11-5 and 11-6.

Earlier, Marianas High School broke into the win column with a hard-earned victory over Grace Christian Academy.

MHS pulled off a nail-biting win in the opener, 13-11, and secured the win with an 11-6 win in the second set. GCA put up a stronger showing in the third and left with their heads up after a 13-11 win. GCA now sports a 0-6 record.