Heading off next week Wednesday (Jan. 5) are Saipan Southern High School and Marianas High School. Both schools’ junior varsity teams will play first at 4:30 p.m. followed by their varsity squads.
Currently, only MHS, SSHS, and Kagman High School have junior varsity teams. Joining them in the regular season are Grace Christian Academy and Mount Carmel School. The next game will take place next Friday, Jan. 7. MHS’ gymnasium is the venue for all matches.
Only varsity teams will play on Monday, Jan. 10. KHS and MCS will face first followed by GCA and MHS. Games will be played every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The regular season ends on Feb. 4, with the double elimination tournament starting on Feb. 11 and 12. Tinian will take part in the playoffs and receive the third seed.
“Our league is slowly but surely expanding to include more and more teams,” said MISO’s acting president Nick Gross in an email.
“We have decided to change the format of our regular season so that the season doesn’t drag on for 2-3 months, so we’ve scheduled two varsity games on the nights that the private schools are playing,” he added.
MISO will also launch its girls’ volleyball season next month, and is expecting six teams.
Two groups will represent MHS. Joining them are KHS, SSHS, Saipan International School, and GCA.
Games will start on Jan. 13 – a week after the start of boys’ basketball – and scheduled matches include: MHS 2 vs. SIS, MHS 1 vs. KHS, SSHS vs. MHS 1, and SIS vs. KHS.
As part of the rules, home teams will have the choice of receiving or serving. Games are played in a best of three, double elimination format. Game point is 25 for the first two sets and 15 for the third set. Matches are played every Tuesday and Thursday, with the tournament scheduled for Feb. 18 (Friday) and 19 (Saturday).
Like boys basketball, regular season records in girls’ volleyball will determine a team’s seed. Tinian receives the third seed in this sport as well.
For more information, contact Nick Gross at 287-4767 or Glenn Smith at [email protected] or 287-3587.
