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Terns vs. Eagles in HS V-ball finals
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Posted on Oct 29 2008
It would be Whispering Palms vs. Grace Christian Academy in the championship game of the 2008 Coalition of Private Schools Sports Association Volleyball League.
The two teams fashioned out contrasting victories against their respective rivals in the semifinals round yesterday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.
The WPS Terns, who were seeded fourth after the double-round regular season, advanced via a 26-24, 25-13 upset over the second-seeded Calvary Christian Sharks.
The win more than avenged the Terns’ two losses to the Sharks in the regular season.
WPS coach Mark McDonald said “win or lose” it’s already a big achievement for his players.
“We have to keep our heads up in the game. If we lose our concentration, we can’t go up there,” he said.
Against the GCA Eagles, the Terns had 1-1 in the regular season.
“We have a 50-50 chance,” McDonald said of their chances as he watched the semifinal game between the GCA Eagles and Saipan International School Green Geckos.
The Eagles dropped the first set, 14-25, but buckled down to work in the next two sets, 25-21, 15-10, and defused the Green Geckos’ sterling performance.
It was the third win this season by the Eagles against the Green Geckos.
After winning the second set and prevented what could be their biggest loss, the top seeded Eagles finally restored their confidence as they erected a 10-4 lead in the third set.
Leaning on the all-around game of Kim Min Sung, the Eagles never relinquished their lead and advanced to the finals for the first time.
They were third in 2006 and fourth in 2007.
Eagles coach Mark Robles said his players got nervous in the first set, reminiscent of their loss to the semifinals last year to ousted defending champion Seventh Day Adventist.
SDA lost the SIS Green this time in the semifinals.
“We won with our good serves and good returns,” Robles said, expressing optimism in winning the crown.
The championship game will start at 3:30pm today. “It would be a tough game,” Robles said.
