3-peat for GCA middle school v-ball team

Grace Christian Academy Lady Eagles’ volleyball legacy continues strong and unmatched—not only in the high school level—but also in the middle school level, as its team has won three championships in a row in the NMIVA-PSS Interscholastic Girls Middle School Volleyball League.

In the 2023-2024 edition, it was a private school showdown as the undefeated Lady Eagles faced off against Mount Carmel School Lady Knights at the Marianas High School Gymnasium last Saturday.

The Lady Eagles, with their perfect record in the regular season and playoffs, awaited the winner of the third-place match between MCS and Hopwood Middle School, with the Lady Knights advancing.

However, fatigue was a determining factor in the finals against GCA as the Lady Knights did not have much chance to rest before the game, resulting in a quick, 21-16, 21-12 match.

The Lady Knights drew first blood in both sets, but the Lady Eagles had the final say.

Hard spiker Neveah Camacho was set up almost perfectly every time by Llyanna Libut, while Eliane Pagaduan, Aiyana Fatialofa, and the rest of the team anticipated returns and digs as accurately as they could.

The Lady Knights tried to keep pace with the high soaring Lady Eagles—tying the second set up a few times with great saves and kills by Anjoelena Villagomez.

A few unanswerable serves by the Lady Knights allowed them to catch up, 8-8, but they were stumped at 12 points as GCA’s Libut took it all the way home in her service, complemented by untouchable kills by Camacho.

The Lady Eagles included Libut, Fatialofa, Pagaduan, Camacho, Wylynn Pua, Guadalupe Villagomez, Sarah Lim, Keala Takeda, Breanna Lopez, Qihan Wang, and Jojo Yarofalir.

The Lady Knights, with Villagomez, consisted of Cassidee Flores, Aubrey Quitugua, Alexia Rubia, Mia Guerrero, Heather Sin, Miana Dela Cruz, Ciana Demapan, Janessa Arriola, Ava Sablan, Cali Cabrera, and Trisha Abuan.

First-time head coach was GCA alumnae Katriel Saures who shared she was proud of the team and their win. “They worked so hard. You can really see them putting in the work in each practice and I’m so proud. I’m so thankful for Mr. C. [Cesar Libut] for helping me out a lot with coaching, and I’d really love to continue doing it.” Libut is an eight-time champion coach for GCA’s high school volleyball team.

She said that in the finals, MCS “was really challenging. I really feel like the competitive level has really risen as time passed by and they’re just such good competition. My team really worked hard. It really gave me motivation to do much more in practice,” She added that the main strategy was defense, as “you have to prepare for any ball that comes your way and not just slack off.”

Asked how it is coaching instead of playing this time around, she said, “I guess you see how they’re in your shoes at some point and you watch them grow. It feels rewarding, especially going back to the school that coached me as well since I was in sixth grade.”

With the first year of coaching done, the Northern Marianas College student’s next goal is to defend the title next season. There are, however, a few players that are promoting to high school next school year—Libut, Camacho, Pua, and Fatialofa.

Saures then thanked the players, supporters, and the coordinators of the league.

The Public School System Girls High School Volleyball League 2023-2024 was held with help from the Northern Mariana Islands Volleyball Association.