Volleyball / Soccer

[Feger]

Rocball takes two-week break


After five weekends of heavy competition, the original 18-team Rocball league is now down to eight teams. The last three teams to make the final cut were the Islanders, Try-Out, and Malat.

The three join early entrants Evenflow, Local Boys, Naturals, No-Mercy, and No-Use to next phase of competition.

The final eight teams will begin their quest for Rocball's world title of Saipan's own Sport on Nov. 24.

The eight teams that made the final cut will play a round-robin system of elimination to determine the four semi finalist.

Rocball creator James Feger said the two-week break will allow each team opportunity to self evaluate. During the two-week rest period, teams may reorganize and recruit players to complete an eight-person roster, drop old players, and recruit new players, or trade players.

When the round-robin system begins, the quarter/set play will increase to 18 points. Rocball games will continue to be held in the Marianas High School gym on Saturdays between 3pm and 8pm. Any team that forfeits one game will be knocked out of the league. A team must field four players for a game within 15 minutes of their scheduled Rocball game, and if a team plays co-ed, they are allowed six players on court.

In January, the Top 4 teams will play a best two out of three semifinal series of 21-point quarter/sets. The two top teams will play the best three out of five of 25-point quarter/sets.

And for those who are wondering what Rocball is, it is a game derivative of volleyball with its roots of play founded in an Aztec warrior' s game. It is the first team net sport of its kind to develop and implement a scoring system where either team can score points off the serve or during volley.

It is the sport that scared the Federation International de Volleyball out of the side-out system of play to their anemic rally-point system, said Feger. (Rocball)

[Feger]

WHAT THE SPORT NEEDS IS WHAT "TIGER WOODS" DID FOR GOLF. AND, IF THE RALLYPOINT SCORING SCYSTEM CAN'T PROVIDE A PLAYER WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO BRING THIS KIND OF SPORT UP FRONT, THEN IT'S TIME TO MAKE SOME MORE CHANGES.

Four added to the USA Volleyball All-Time Great Players list
DENVER (May 27, 2005) ?

For the first time in three years, the USA Volleyball All-Time Great Players list added new members as legends Bob Ctvrtlik, Lori Endicott, Caren Kemner and Pat Powers were announced as the 2005 recipients of the award Thursday night.
The announcement was made at the organization?s 60th Annual Dorothy C. Boyce Annual Awards and Recognitions Banquet, presented by Molten and co-sponsored by Mizuno at the Adams Mark Hotel.
The All-Time Great Volleyball Player recognition awards are named after two Hall of Fame inductees. The women?s award is named in honor of the late Flo Hyman, the star player on the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team that did not compete due to the boycott and the silver-medal winning 1984 U.S. Olympic Team. The men?s award is named in honor of the late Tom Haine, a member of the 1964 U.S. Olympic Team and captain of the 1968 U.S. Olympic Team.
Ctvrtlik, the only one of the four honorees able to attend the banquet, is a three-time Olympian and two-time Olympic medalist. Heralded by many as one of the best serve-receivers to have played the sport of volleyball, Ctvrtlik competed in numerous international competitions for the United States, including the 1988 Olympic Games where the U.S. won the gold medal; the 1992 Olympic Games where the U.S. brought home the bronze medal; and the 1996 Olympic Games when he captained Team USA. Named ?Outstanding Defensive Player? at the 1986 World Championships and ?Outstanding Passer? at the 1988 Olympic Games, Ctvrtlik was captain of the USA volleyball team from 1994-to-1996 and was named USA Volleyball?s ?Player of the Year? in 1994. In 1995 the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) elected him ?Best Player in the World? and he was the only American selected to FIVB?s ?1995 Men?s World Centennial Gala All-Star Team.? Ctvrtlik was a collegiate "Player of the Year" and national champion at Pepperdine University in 1985.




Endicott began a stellar eight-year National Team career in 1989 after a record-setting career at the University of Nebraska, and it wasn?t long before she began to make a name for herself on the international level. Endicott, a two-time Olympian, was named the ?Best Setter? at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona after she guided the Americans to a bronze medal. In 1990 she rebounded from hand surgery the year before, guided Team USA to the bronze medal at the 1990 World Championships in China and was honored with tournament's Fair Play Award. She was also recognized as the ?Best Setter? at the 1992 FIVB Super Four, the 1993 World Championship Qualification Tournament in Ankara, Turkey, the 1991 NORCECA Zone Championship, the 1990 World Challenge Cup in Spain and the FIVB Super Four tournament in Japan.





Kemner is a three-time Olympian and a 1992 Olympic bronze medalist. She joined the National Team in 1985 after two short but successful years as a player at the University of Arizona and made an immediate impact on the program. Kemner was a six-time recipient of United States Olympic Committee Female Volleyball Athlete of the Year Award (1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991 and 1992) and a five-time winner of the USA Team Most Valuable Player award. She was selected to the All-Spectacular Team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona after leading the Americans to the bronze medal with a team-high 127 kills and seven aces. Kemner was tabbed as the 1991 FIVB Most Valuable Player and as the Most Outstanding Player at the 1991 World Cup. She was nominated for the 1990 and 1991 Sullivan Award, presented annually to the outstanding amateur athlete in the country.





The 6-foot-5 Powers is regarded as one of the greatest players in international volleyball history in both the indoor game and the beach game. He was a member of the USA Men?s National Team for nine years (1978-86), starting at opposite hitter on a squad that won America?s first-ever volleyball ?Triple Crown?: the 1984 Olympics, the 1985 World Cup and the 1986 World Championships. He also spent 15 years (1982-96) playing on the Association of Volleyball Professionals beach tour, winning 13 tourneys and more than $500,000 to rank in the career top 30 in both categories. Powers was voted the AVP?s ?Best Blocker? and ?Best Spiker? in 1988 and ranked third on the money list in 1992. He won the 1988 World Beach Championships, making him one of just three players to win an indoor and outdoor world championship. Powers was a two-time national champion and All-American at USC.

[Feger]

Rocball tops Basketball: Before the three pointer in basketball, Rocball put 3 pointers in team net sports

The first of the four parts of the Rocball season is completed. There were 37 games played by 18 teams in the elimination quarter of the season to determine the 8 teams scheduled for a round robin set of games. Of the 37 games of play, 10 teams were eliminated, there were 356 aces scored, 67 xunks, 4 jams, 289 kees, and 63 goals scored in addition to court point scoring.

Of each heavy hitter category, the individual leaders were Typhoon Saito of the naturals scored 11 aces, Myron Laniyo of No-Mercy scored 5 xunks, Eugene Solomon of Evenflow, Cosmos Cosmos of the Jammers, Mariano Lisua of Malat, and Tedson Louis of the NG Force scored 1 jam each, Myron Laniyo of No-Mercy scored 15 aces, and Jeremy Rabay of the Chuukese Warriors and Jerry Saures of the Islanders each scored 3 goals.

But, as of yet, no one player has scored in all five heavy hitting categories and earned the ?Master Blaster? title of Rocball. And, statistics are not being kept on team?s point runs, kills, blocks, digs, service receptions, 1 point volleyball type court scores, assists, or hitting percentages that scored points. In order to set up a system to monitor and record all the different skills and possible scenarios that make-up a game, it would take a few more table officials.

To read more about the statistics of volleyball and how a news release should be wriiten, read USA Volleyball, Publication of Volleyball by [email protected]. Mr. Kaufman is the Manager, Media Relations. When you add the Rocball scoring system on top of the volleyball type of stats to record, there are more aspects of the game to be aware of than there is in basketball

The top five heavy hitting scores by a player for a team are Myron Laniyo of No-Mercy with 39 points, Ryan Lisua of Malat with 37 points, Jerry Saures of the Islanders with 37 points, Manual Ajoste of the Sonics with 37 points, John Nekaifes of Evenflow with 36 points, Typhoon Saito of the Naturals with 35 points, and Ben Lisua of Seven with 33 points.

On November 24th, the final eight teams will start making a run for one of the four spots to the semi- finals. Rocballs games will be played from 5 pm to 9 pm at the MHS Gym as a part of the Drug and Violent Free Safe haven Program at the MHS Gym. And, for the eight team Round Robin competition, teams will be playing an 18 point quarter/set game.

[Feger]

GAME OF THE WEEK

In the game of the week, the third undefeated team of this year, Evenflow, was challenged to the limit. The Try-Outs, a skilled team of volleyball players, played hard at the front positions and recorded 10 kills from the right and left net. They successfully blocked 6 shots from Evenflow, made five saves from off court, and 2 digs on court. And, they scored a team total of 10 aces, 9 kees, and 1 goal in heavy hitting.

The Try-Outs won the first two sets 19 to 17 and 19 to 16. But, the Try-Outs shanked the first serves of possession 10 times, and lost 10 points for those bad serves in the first four sets of regular game. They haven?t yet made the transition from rallypoint volleyball to Rocball?s modified side-out system of play. And, the shank serves hurt them the most in the fourth set when they were at game point and almost scored a juice-out win twice.

Team Evenflow, the third team to come out of the elimination round of games undefeated, does not crack under pressure. They won the third set of the game 20 to 19 and held off the Try-Outs in the fourth set to force overtime play. At one time in the fourth set, Evenflow had the Try-Outs down 16 to 7. Evenflow was two points away from juicing out. Evenflow needed a four point margin in the fourth set to make up the games points needed for them to juice-out.

The Try-Outs clawed out of their 4th quarter slump and scored 7 points on a run and put the score at 16 to 14 before they lost the serve. Evenflow scored and put them at game point 17 to 14. The Try-Outs scored off Evenflow and closed in 17 to 15. Evenflow seemed a little stunned and Try-Out scored twice again and tied the score at 17 to 17.

At this point, Try-Out was playing for game point, and Evenflow was playing for set point and a chance to force the game into overtime. And, then Try-Out choked up and shanked their serves from 17 to 16 twice, winning a points to tie the game, put them at game point twice, and losing game point advantage twice.
Evenflow got the serve off Try-Outs after the second shank at 17 to 16, capitalized on the Try-Outs errors, and scored off the serve to win the set and force the game into overtime.

At the end of four sets of play, the Try-Outs had outscored Evenflow 73 to 71 but failed to juice-out. In order to win a game in the quarter/set system, a team must win the fourth set and have more game points scored than their opponents. A team cannot juice out in a losing set with the most game points scored, and a team cannot juice-out by winning the fourth set with a losing score.

In overtime, the Try-Outs had the advantage. Because they had the most game points scored after four sets of play, the Try-Outs only had to win one overtime set of ten points or a goal. Evenflow needed to needed stop the Try-Outs from winning the first overtime set and force the game to a do-or-die situation.

Evenflow was able to just squeeze out a difficult first overtime set win 11 to 10. The game came to the final set for these two teams, and after an hour and ten minutes from their first competitive serve, Evenflow started out in the final set in a blaze of serves with three consecutive 2 points aces. But, the game came to a sudden halt, when Eugene Solomon of Evenflow, exploded off of a backcourt spike to win the game with a goal.

The Evenflow players scored 9 aces, 2 xunks, 9 kees, and 2 goals. In court play, Evenflow made 5 kills, 3 off court saves, and 2 diggs. Heavy hiiters of the game were J.R. Gechig of Evenflow with 2 aces and 4 kees and Jazz Rosakow of the Try-Outs with 5 aces and 1 kee.

And, in other action of the first weekend of the round robin games to eliminate 4 more teams from this year?s Rocball season and advance four teams to the semi finals, the Naturals juiced-out the Islanders in four sets, 71 to 57. The heavy hitter of this game was Frandolee Tito of the Naturals with 7 aces, 2 kees, and 1 goal for 21 points. The players of both teams scored a total of 22 aces, 1 xunk, 12 kees, and 3 goals.

No-Use, one of the three undefeated teams to emerge from the 18-team elimination series of games, juiced the Local Boys in four sets 77 ? 42. Ichnis Kapwich of No-Use was the game?s heavy hitter with 6 aces, 2 xunks, and 3 kees for 22 points. The players of both teams scored 25 aces, 5 xunks, 14 kees, and 3 goals.

No-Mercy, another undefeated team for the season, defeated Malat 76 to 46. The heavy hitter of this game was Stephanie Arnold of No Mercy. Stephanie, home on leave from the Air Force and a veteran Rocball player, scored 7 aces, three of which were consecutive serves, and 2 kees for 18 points. In this game, 15 aces, 2 xunks, 17 kees, and 1 goal was scored.

[Feger]

No-Use juices out to beat Naturals

By Mark Rabago
Assistant Editor

The round-robin playoffs of the 2007-2008 World Organized Rocball Community League continued Friday with No-Use fashioning out a juice-out win over Naturals at the Marianas High School Gymnasium.

Naturals came back from a first set thumping from No-Use, 18-9, and pulled the rug out from under the undefeated No-Use in set two in a 19-8 payback lesson.

Naturals held the powerful No-Use team from scoring heavy points in the second set. No-Use's only heavy hitting score in the second set came from a backcourt kee from their goalie.

In the third set, No-Use and the Naturals went toe-to-toe. No-Use served to start the set and scored three points off two serves. Naturals came back and scored a two-point ace off their first serve.

The lead in the third set went back and forth between teams with neither team losing points off shank serves. But when the score was tied at 12-all, Yumi Sharry of Naturals slammed in a goal and put the Naturals in the lead by three points, 15-12.

No-Use seemed stunned by Sharry's heavy score because on the next play, Naturals accentuated their three-point lead with a xunk off serve that set the No-Use team five points behind Naturals, 15-10.

That's when No-Use dug in and put up a stiff defense that held Naturals at point 17, a point away from winning the set for six plays.

No-Use was able to come from behind and tie Naturals at set point, 17-all.

With the score in the third set tied and No-Use serving for set point, Sharry lowered the boom on No-Use with another three-point goal. No-Use was stunned again and seemed to have lost their competitive thoughts, because Naturals scored a two-point ace to end the third set, 22-17.

At the beginning of the fourth set, Naturals had a six-point lead over No-Use, 50-44. In order to win via juice-out, Naturals only had to win the fourth set.

Team No-Use was for the first time this year trailed in points going into the fourth set. In order for No-Use to win the game, they needed to defeat Naturals by at least seven points. That was just what No-Use did as they won the fourth set in a show of force, 19-6, with a 13-point margin of victory in the fourth set to juice-out their toughest game yet.

The heavy hitter of the game was Sharry of Naturals with an ace, two kees, and two goals for 12 points. There were 10 aces, two xunks, 11 kees, and three goals scored in the game.

Naturals made three blocks, two digs, a kill, and a save. No-Use made five blocks, a dig, and a save.

[Feger]

By Mark Rabago
Assistant Editor / Saipan Tribune

Try-Outs beat No Mercy

Try-Outs juiced-out and handed No-Mercy its first defeat of the year. Try-Outs came off a hard double-overtime loss to Evenflow last week and walked over No-Mercy with leftover adrenalin, 18-6, in the first set of play.

No Mercy bounced back in the second set, but wasn't able to hold Try-Outs at set point long enough to overtake them in points.

Try-Outs won the second set, 20-16.

In the third set, Try-Outs had a comfortable game-point lead of 38-22 and maybe they were a little too comfortable. Because No-Mercy blew out the Try-Outs in the third set 19-4 and cut the game down to 42 -41 in favor of the Try-Outs. Either team had the chance to win the game after

No-Mercy's strong third set win notwithstanding it was Try-Outs who prevailed.

The Try-Outs took charge of the fourth set and never looked back as they won, 18-7.

The heavy hitter of this game was Julius Saito of Try-Outs with four aces and a kee for 10 points. There were 13 aces, a jam, seven kees, and two goals scored. Try-Outs made two digs and nine kills. No-Mercy made two blocks, a dig, four kills, and six saves.

[Feger]

The Serve and Side-Out order of Play

Islanders beat Malat :

Islanders and Malat are teams coming off losses after the first games starting off the round-robin competition of Rocball.

Islanders were the first wounded, losing the first set, 18-10. The Islanders served first and shanked the ball giving Malat the lead without having to touch the ball. Malat took the gift of first point and turned it into an 18-10 first set win. In the second set, the Islanders weren't so generous, corrected their first mistakes and won, 18-8. This put game-point at 28-26 in favor of the Islanders.

In the third set, Islanders had a problem with their first possession serves again. They got stuck at point one and two twice and in the middle of the set twice again at points 10 and 11.

Malat didn't have the serve problems of the Islanders, but couldn't seem to capitalize on their opponents' weaknesses. Islanders were able to pull off a close win in the third set, 19-17.

Both teams were in a position to win in the quarter/set system by juicing-out in four sets. Islanders only needed to win the fourth set to earn their first win in round robin.

Malat was trailing by six points and needed a seven-point margin win in the fourth set to juice-out and win the game. If Malat won the fourth set with less than seven points, they could force the game into overtime. But the Islanders were able to punch out a 17-14 fourth set win and left with their first victory.

Jon Kaipat of the Islanders was the game's heavy hitter with eight aces and two kees for 10 points. There were 21 aces, four xunks, 13 kees, and a goal scored in this game. Islanders made a block, a dig, a kill, and five shanks. Malat made a block, two kills, four shanks, and two saves.

[Feger]

The Serve and a Side-Out order of Play

Evenflow beats Locals Boys (OT)

Local Boys stretched out Evenflow in their round robin match. Evenflow was coming off a hard, come-from-behind, two-overtime win over the Try-Outs last week, and the last thing they needed was to be forced into another situation where the winner would be determined in overtime.

It started out easy enough for Evenflow as they dominated the court and the rules of engagement against Local Boys on their way to a 19-6 first set win.

In the second set, Local Boys put up a stiffer resistance and scored 14 points to Evenflow's 20 points. In the third set, the Local Boys grinded away but came up short again, 15-19.

In Rocball, the game ain't over until it's over. A team can't win a Rocball game in the quarter/set system of play unless they win the fourth set with more game points than their opponents. In order for Local Boys to have a chance, they needed to win the fourth set and force Evenflow into overtime.

Local Boys stopped Evenflow at point 11 and came back from point five, in set four where Evenflow made three kills and the Local Boys came up with a counter measure of three digs and capitalized on Evenflow's four shanks to win the fourth, 18-12.

But in overtime, Evenflow had the experience. Local Boys made a great comeback to force the game into extra sets, but Evenflow is rapidly becoming known as the team that owns O-kon (Rocball jargon for overtime sets). Local Boys were tenacious but went down swinging in first overtime, 12-10, and Evenflow got the win and remains undefeated.

[b] The heavy hitter of the game was J.R. Gechig of Evenflow with three aces and four kees for 14 points. There were 17 aces, a xunk, and 20 kees scored in the game. Local Boys made a block, five digs, and five shanks. Evenflow made eight kills and six shanks.

[Big Seany]

Go Evenflow!!

Jim, are they named after the Pearl Jam song??

Was roc-ing my rocball t-shirt last night, by the way.

[spagmasterswift]

Go Evenflow!!

Jim, are they named after the Pearl Jam song??

Was roc-ing my rocball t-shirt last night, by the way.

It would make sense as the rocball t-shirts are not a million miles away from a Pearl Jam t-shirt. I wore mine when I painted the bedroom the other week!

[Big Seany]

I wore mine sat in the garage drinking beers.

[Feger]

Hey Seany and Spagmaster how are you doing. I don't know why they call themselves Evenflow. But, up until this Saturday they were undefeated. A news release on their game is attached.

I'm glad your shirts are holding out. They are big items over here also. Just gave two doazen to the Harlem Ambassadors on tour doing their basketball gig and promoting healthy lifestyle and education to Micronesia area.

The Serve, a Side-Out Order, and Five Hit Play

Undefeated and Master Blaster

No-Use and the Islanders remain undefeated in this season?s Rocball round robin competition. And, Val Taisakan of the Islanders is this year?s first ?Master Blaster?. Val scored a ?jam? Saturday night in the game against No-Mercy to complete the conditions of earning the title. Of the techniques to score in heavy hitting, the jam is the most difficult.

A jam is a play where a person at the net can knock down a served ball just as it is about to cross over the net, and score a court point with one or less opponents touching the ball before the ball lands on the court.

Team No-Use came out of last weekend?s game as an undefeated team in this year?s Rocball games. Evenflow, Islanders and No-Use were the three undefeated teams in Rocball after the Try-Outs knocked off No-Mercy in last week?s games.

The game between the undefeated started off well for Evenflow. No-Use won the serve but Evenflow scored the first point and then scored a three point goal on volley off their first serve to jump out to a 4-0 lead in the first set. No-Use came back and scored a two point backcourt kee off Evenflow?s second serve and then caught on fire, and went on to win first set 18 to 6.

The second set between the undefeated was a long fought out victory for Evenflow. Evenflow and No-Use went back and forth with the lead in the second set up to point 13. Evenflow and No-Use were tied at point 13 when a xunk serve caught No-Use flatfooted and off balance. The xunk dropped No-Use to 11 points and put the momentum of play with Evenflow. Evenflow went on to win the second set 25 to 19.

Evenflow?s second set win proved to be their best play of the game. Because, No-Use dominated the rest of the game with a 20 to 8 win in the third set and 19 to 8 win in the fourth set to stop Evenflow from forcing them into OT and juiced-out with a 75 to 47 game winning score.

The heavy hitter of this game was Sivas Awes of No-Use with 2 aces and 4 kees for 12 points. There were 8 aces, 4 xunks, and 17 kees scored in the game. No-Use made 1 block, 1 dig, 4 kills, and 1 shank. Evenflow made 1 block, 2 kills, 2 shanks, and 1 save.

[Feger]

The Serve, a Side-Out Order, and Five Hit Play

Local Boys beat Naturals

Both the Local Boys and Naturals were winless going into this game. And Naturals, despite shanking the first serves of possession twice at 11 points, drew first blood with an 18-11 first set win.

Naturals scored on set point after the Local Boys lost serve and a point off their only shank of the set.

In the second set, the Naturals were the only team that lost a point off a shank serve. The battle for the second set was a tight win for Local Boys at 18-17. In the third set, the Local Boys took charge and won it 20-12.

At the end of the third set, the game score was Local Boys 49 and Naturals 47. Both teams were in good position to win the game.

Local Boys only had to win the fourth set to juice-out and Naturals only had to win the fourth set with a three-point margin to win the game. But it was the Local Boys' night and they won the game off a dink at set point for a 18-14 fourth set score and the game.

The heavy hitter of the game was Typhoon Saito of Naturals with two aces and two kees for eight points. There were nine aces, 12 kees, and two goals scored. Naturals made a dig, 18 kills, and 10 shanks. Local Boys made three digs, four kills, and four shanks.

[Feger]

The Serve, a Side-Out Order, and Five Hits

Islanders beat No-Mercy

The Islanders, undefeated in their first two games of the round robin, and No-Mercy, coming off their first defeat of the year, played the last game on Saturday night.

In the first phase of Rocball in the 18-team elimination series, No-Mercy defeated the Islanders. But last Saturday proved to be a payback moment for the Islanders.

It started off bad for the Islanders as No-Mercy came out swinging and thrashed them in first set 19-10.

The Islanders seemed a little unnerved at the first set loss and shanked a first serve of the second set giving No-Mercy the present of the lead with an unearned rally point. No-Mercy took their present and turned it into a 9-3 lead before the Islanders were able to regroup and tie-up the score at 11-all.

The Islanders took the lead in the second set, 14-12, when Shane Yamada slammed in a goal to make the score, 15-14, in favor of No-Mercy. The Islanders came back and scored a kee and regained the lead, 16-15, but lost the lead on their next possession off a shank serve and put the score, 15-15.

No-Mercy wasn't able to capitalize off the Islanders' mistake and went into a slump as the Islanders broke through No-Mercy's defense with a couple of kills that won them second set, 18-15.

The Islanders found their groove and unscrambled the secret of No-Mercy's defense coming off the second set win. The Islanders fought their way to a juice-out win taking the third and fourth sets, 19-9 and 18-13, with a game score of 65-56.

The game saw the two teams score in all categories of Rocball-ace, xunk, jam, kee, goal with blocks, digs, kills, shanks, and saves. The heavy hitter of the game was Kaleo Olaitiman with four aces and a kee for 10 points. There were 10 aces, a xunk, a jam, 10 kees, and five goals scored.

No-Mercy made a block, a kill, and three shanks. Islanders made two blocks, a dig, three kills, and a save.

[Feger]

Three Catches and a Throw

I went to get a haircut today. My barber is from Okinawa and she was watching sports on the Japan National TV, NHK. I thought she was watching a volleyball game when I walked into the barber shop.

BUT What I saw was three catches and a throw. There were six players to a team, volleyball net, and a volleyball court. The players looked like they were either older elementary or young middle school players.: Game was 15 with 2 point margin to win.

The serve was a throw, there wern't any sets, and no spikes.