
By Robert Balajadia
The ND Royals and Academy Cougars haven’t shared the court since the IIAAG Championship game late into the 2021 school year which resulted in a big upset tittle-winning night for the Cougars. Tuesday evening marked the return of sports for the start of the 2021-22 sports calendar year with the home team Royals opening up the year with a straights sets victory over the Cougars 25-16, 25-17, 25-19.
Tuesday’s rematch wasn’t your typical ‘championship rematch’ with more than half the players on both sides having graduated since their last meeting. One of the few returnees on the Royals roster, Faith Piper, had a dominant night with eight kills and nine aces to lead her young team.
Piper had established herself as a game-changing presence at the net right when she came onto the scene, but she’s looking like a problem for opponents at the service line after rattling off seven straight aces in the second set to break a 10-all game into a 17-10 advantage for ND.
“It was definitely one of those things I worked on all off-season,” said Piper on her dominant night serving. “It was good to get back and challenge them again and get this result. I wouldn’t say that this was getting revenge, but it felt good to get this one back.”
The young Royals got a big lift from freshman Mercedes Mendiola-Cruz who put in five aces and two blocks, including a game-ending run at the service line in the 3rd set. With no fans in attendance, Mercedes was able to mask the nerves of her first official high school game.
“I like to hide my emotions, but I was confident in myself and in my team… I was taught by my coaches to survey the defense and pick my spots. That was my strategy tonight,” said Mercedes.
The Royals were also actively rotating players all-game long with swing players and underclassmen getting a healthy dose of action. The constant use of subs was expected from the players, but they didn’t skip a beat after trailing no more than four points in any set.
“We’ve worked together all off-season so we’re all pretty close and know what were expected to do,” said Mendiola-Cruz on her teams ability to trust each other.
The Cougars were led in kills by Sadie Gutierrez with five, followed by three kills and three aces from Genice Torres.
Royals open strong
ND wasted no time getting into their groove with Piper rocking the gym with three big kills in the opening set which quickly put her team up 11-3. A few kills from the Cougars Gutierrez and Torres gave Academy some life at the end of the set, but a final kill from Seniayath Bell would give ND the opening set 25-16.
The Cougars took advantage of a string of ND offensive errors to take an 8-4 lead before another pair of kills allowed the Royals to fight back to a 10-all game. Piper would then serve seven straight ace to take a 17-10 lead all by her lonesome before the Cougars finally called a timeout to stop the run. Piper would notch her sixth kill of the night on the final point of the 2nd set 25-17.
The 3rd would prove to be the closest set between the two teams as they were locked at 16 late. Mendiola-Cruz came up to the line with her team leading 20-19 and she wouldn’t leave that spot. Mercedes collected three aces during the teams final 5-0 run to end the game with her final ace being the final point of the night.
The Royals have a BYE this Friday as the Cougars will face off against the St. John’s Knights. The Knight’s picked up a five-set thriller victory over the Guam High Panthers 24-26, 25-18, 20-25, 25-18, 15-12.
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GPS Sports Calendar
February 2023
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for January
1st
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
2nd
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
3rd
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL PLAYOFFS
Events for February
4th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Events for February
6th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
7th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
8th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
9th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
10th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
TRITONS BASEBALL INVITATIONAL FINALS
Events for February
11th
Events for February
13th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
14th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
15th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for February
16th
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
Events for February
17th
ISA TRACK & FIELD MEET
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
Events for February
18th
BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2K/5K
World Athletics Cross Country Championships
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
Events for February
19th
SPRINT TRIATHLON, PACIFIC GAMES QUALIFIER
MONSTER ENERGY MOTOCROSS ROUND 2
Events for February
20th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
21st
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
22nd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL
Events for February
23rd
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
Events for February
24th
ISA GIRLS SOCCER
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS
Events for February
24th
Events for February
25th
Events for February
27th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
ISA GIRLS SOCCER SEMIFINALS
Events for February
28th
IIAAG BEACH VOLLEYBALL FINALS
ISA BASEBALL LEAGUE SEMIFINALS
IIAAG TENNIS LEAGUE
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS

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