MCS Boys Claim Beach Volleyball Title

THE boys of Mount Carmel School proved that they are the best in the Public School System 4v4 Beach Volleyball League after edging Grace Christian Academy, 16-21, 21-15, 16-14, in a hard-fought title game Saturday at the Fiesta Resort & Spa beach.

Entering the championship round, MCS had neither lost a match nor a set, but in the first set of the finals, GCA managed to outscore MCS, thanks to the work of GCA's Steven Balakrishna and his fellow Eagles — Ryan Deproza, Anthony Deleon Guerrero, Christian Pamintuan and Akira Ota — who continuously set Balakrishna up for the spike finishes.

But the MCS Knights, led by Merrick Toves, fired shots of their own, keeping the Eagles on their toes.

Still, when it came to teamwork, GCA had the upper hand as the setting skills of William Kim were key to their strategy.

From quick but short sets to cross-court touches, Balakrishna, for his part, highlighted most assists with strong spike finishes to push the lead to a safe distance, eventually beating MCS, 21-16, in the first set.

In the next set, however, the Knights raised their shields and implemented a defensive plan.

MCS’ Merrick Toves played the role as the aggressor, both defensively and offensively, finishing each attack with spike finishes paired with smart placements while executing  a handful of blocks to give the Knights the lead, 11-5.

GCA tried to rally but MCS’ Sam Ryu made sure the Eagles did not close in by scoring four aces to seal the Knights’ second-set victory, 21-15, and force a third and final set.

To win the deciding set and the championship, a team must notch a  two-point lead.

At first it was GCA that held control with Balakrishna and Kim working together for  strong finishes as the Eagles led, 14-12.

However, when all seemed lost, Toves and the rest of the Knights suddenly found their momentum to even the score, 14-14. Then Ryu stepped up during crunch time with a great serve, leaving GCA defenseless to give MCS the lead 15-14.

 GCA tried to stay in the game by keeping the ball alive but Ryu's effort to capitalize on the free-ball was the game-winning play as his spike to the middle opening left the Eagles diving for the save  but with not enough time to put the ball back up in the air successfully.