Jingle Boyz jingle way to men’s v-ball championship

Jingle Boyz players, led by team captain Mike Omar, En Yang Pang, Francisco Kumuch, Mokyang Kim, Joel Norita, Jerry Saures, Patricio Blas, and Nak Nakashima, is the 4th Annual Agape Christmas Volleyball Tournament champions after defeating We 9 Kings in three thrilling sets last Friday at the crowded and energetic Agape Gymnasium. (LEIGH GASES)

In a stunning come-from-behind win, Jingle Boyz jingled their way to the men’s volleyball championship after defeating We 9 Kings in the 4th Annual Agape Christmas Volleyball Tournament last Friday at the Agape Gymnasium.

The Boyz, which was led by event coordinator En Yang Pang and team captain Mike Omar, Francisco Kumuch, Mokyang Kim, Joel Norita, Jerry Saures, Patricio Blas, and Nak Nakashima clinched the men’s division championship after rallying past the Kings in a thrilling finale, 26-28, 25-23, 15-6.

It was a battle at the net as most of the plays were handled through hard-hit spikes by both team’s middle blockers—Nason Simon—who was always accurately and smoothly set up by setter Sui Yi of the We 9 Kings, and Kumuch—set up mostly by Omar of the Jingle Boyz. 

In the first set, the Jingle Boyz fumbled the win as it was a back and forth rally for the first to win in a deficit of 2 points; an unhittable return coupled with a failed block attempt by the Jingle Boyz on a rocket spike by Simon handed the first win to the Kings.

Then, the Jingle Boyz set up their plays for redemption as they were more grounded and more solid with their communication in the second set. The ball whizzed back and forth from a close contact war waged at the net with powerful spikes, but there were also moments of silence during the quiet plays that juked both sides and buckled knees.

The boom of spikes kept coming and one would miss them if they had blinked in those moments, with a sniper shot from Simon almost hitting the head of Omar. It was immediately replied with an equally deadly spike from the hand of Kumuch that led to a point—putting the Boyz in the lead and eventually winning the second set after they landed a couple more tricky placement shots.

In the deciding tie-breaker third set, a series of untouchable spikes from the duo of Pang and Kumuch, along with blocking off the attack of spikes from a fatiguing Simon and company, Jingle Boyz built an 8-5 lead. It was smooth sailing from there as the Boyz sealed the win when the Kings were unable to catch up from a 9-point deficit toward the end, handing the championship trophy to Jingle Boyz.

The road to victory by the Boyz came after they led Pool A with a 10-1 record. 

In the quarterfinals last Tuesday, the Boyz kicked out the Asian Airlines and in the semifinals on Thursday, discarded the Naughty List. The Kings, however, came into the finals as the underdogs when they handed an upset to Pool B top team Parampapapums in the semifinals.

Omar, on their come-from-behind win in the finals, said “we noticed that in the first set, we didn’t communicate at all. We weren’t having fun. That’s our motto: have fun above everything. So in the second set, we still weren’t communicating as well, but luckily, we put it together, started cheering each other on, and started calling blocks, digs, and what place to set and cover.”

He attributed their success to teamwork and positive vibes because. “We were really in our heads already at that moment… We were able to advance to the third set which gave us the momentum and the spirit to really finish strong. We were 10-1 all season and we wanted to take the big W but most of all have fun.”

Omar said that most of the players are veteran players and they wanted to incorporate the young players to share with them some knowledge of the game. 

Results of the women’s division champions will be posted in the next editions of Saipan Tribune.