Tennis, volleyball share February honors

Saipan Golf Association members pose for a group photo after holding their January Ace of the Month Tournament last Feb. 2 at the Laolao Bay Golf & Resort west course. (Contributed Photo)

Luke Beling and Tania Tan for Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association were named NMASA Male Athlete of the Month and TSL Foundation Female Student Athlete of the Month, respectively, while Athena Andrews and Clay McCullough-Stearns took the other two monthly plums.

Tennis and volleyball players split the Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association’s top athletes awards for February.
Luke Beling and Tania Tan for Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association were named NMASA Male Athlete of the Month and TSL Foundation Female Student Athlete of the Month, respectively, while Athena Andrews and Clay McCullough-Stearns took the other two monthly plums.

Beling earned NMASA members’ nod during the association’s monthly meeting last Thursday at the conference room of the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium for his unbeaten records in the 2014 White Coconut Classic Tennis Tournament. The Whispering Palms teacher and Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan instructor defeated four other players to win the men’s singles crown in the annual tournament. He then teamed up with Joshua Abragan in ruling the 40-plus field mixed up singles, clinching the championship after downing Peter Loken and Steven Goodwin.

Tan was in the same tournament and bagged the girls U14 singles title. The Saipan International School student was down in the finale against the top-ranked Alina Ishikawa, 1-5, but came back and tied the match, 6-6, before completing the upset, 8-6. Tan also joined the mixed-up doubles, joining forces with Gary Ramsey and advancing to the quarterfinals.

McCullough-Stearns, also of SIS, finished on top of the field in the Marianas Junior Cup held in Guam last month. He partnered with Japanese Kai Kurokawa and prevailed against 20 other pairs in the annual tournament.

The 2012 NMASA Student Athlete of the Year then returned to Saipan to join the Marianas Cup Pro-Am and he paired with veteran Tyce Mister. The Mister-McCullough-Stearns tandem was the highest placed local team (seventh) in the tournament. The pro-am event was McCullough-Stearns’ third competition for February, as he started the month with a stint in the For the Love of Volleyball, teaming up with Andrew Johnson.

Athena Andrews also competed in the pro-am and was one of the four lucky Saipan players to have a pro teammate in Japan’s Shinako Tanaka. The pair eventually placed fourth in the 16-team field. The Marianas Cup was Andrews’ second tournament last month with the For the Love of Volleyball as her first (with Angie Mister).

Andrews and the three other selected athletes are now qualified for the athletes of the year awards, which will be handed out early next year.