Previous Story
Manta Rays rally to bring down Eagles
Saipan Southern High School and Grace Christian Academy players meet at the net in the first set of their NMIVA-PSS Interscholastic High School Volleyball League 2022-2023 season game last Tuesday at the Marianas High School Gymnasium.(MARK RABAGO)
Saipan Southern High School pulled off one of the biggest upsets early in the NMIVA-PSS Interscholastic High School Volleyball League 2022-2023 season after rallying to beat Grace Christian Academy.
The Manta Rays got off to a shaky start and went down early and often and dropped the first set, 14-21.
The Eagles tried to reassert their dominance in the second set and quickly finish off the game, but coach Shawn Davis’ crew would have none of it and forced a third and deciding set by winning the second set, 21-17.
SSHS then continued their magical run in the race-to-15 by surprising GCA at every turn before hacking out a 15-8 win to the delight of their appreciative crowd last Tuesday at the Marianas High School Gymnasium.
The Manta Rays thus evened their win-loss record to 2-2, while dealing GCA its second loss in four outings.
The victorious Manta Rays are made up of Lerry Marquez, Jin Tao, Angelbert Olas, Franz Abadilla, Ron Patricio, JiaHao Chen, Simon Tang, Jhan Valienta, VuTheson Arachchige, Vince Guilas, and Adrian Manalang.
The GCA roster includes Seth Balakrishna, Ryan Daproza, Jasper Hall, Noah Lee, Miles Linden, Kyle San Hyun Moon, Akira Ota, Jack Raho, Tristan Raho, Julian Taitano, Jiahao Yang, Sui Yi, and Jiahang Wu. They are coached by Kriselel Esteves.
In other games last Tuesday at the newly air-conditioned Home of the Dolphins, MHS 3 took down Agape Christian School 2, 21-9, 21-18; MHS 2 beat Mount Carmel School 2, 21-9, 22-20;
ACS 1 triumphed over MCS 1, 21-15, 21-16; and MHS 1 defeated Kagman High School 1, 21-10, 21-17.
MHS 1 continues to lead the varsity standings at 5-0, followed by Saipan International School at 2-0. GCA is tied with Agape Christian School at 2-2, while Mount Carmel School is winless in five games.
In junior varsity standings, MHS 2 is also perfect at 4-0, followed by MHS 3 (3-1), Saipan Southern High School (2 2-1), SIS 2 (1-1), ACS 2 (1-3), and MCS 2 (0-4).
