Pungilug and Palacios look to reconnect

Little more than a week ago, the Northern Mariana Islands Volleyball Association released its list of frontrunners to represent the CNMI on the beach in this summer’s Micronesian Games.

There were few surprises as the top men’s finishers who maintained a level of consistency rank a step above the pack, and this weekend they look to continue the trend of top performances when the men return to the Pacific Islands Club tomorrow, Jan. 28, for the fourth and final qualifier.

Heading into this Saturday’s competition, the tandem of Quincy Johnson and Kaycee Rengaelur holds an overall lead in the team standings with 52 points with a first and third place finish, but Dan Westphal and Nick Castro teamed up as a close second with 48 points.

Both teams hold an advantage over the rest of the pack after having competed in two of the three qualifiers, while the rest have only one to their credit. Marino Pungilug is on two of those teams—posting first place wins with Bruce Berline and Jess Palacios.

After the last tournament at the Fiesta Resort & Spa, the race took another interesting turn as Marino Pungilug was forced to take in a second teammate in as many qualifiers as Palacios failed to show to the beach.

Pungilug still found his way to the winners’ circle when he found a more than worthy counterpart in Berline. The duo won the latest round of hand-to-hand in the sand, but NMIVA officers have made a few adjustments to the qualification format because both Pungilug and Palacios are on two of the teams in the running.

Originally the plan was to have the top team from all of the qualifiers march behind the CNMI flag this summer, but NMIVA president Jon Cramer announced that there is a much more interesting route to representation.

“We will be taking the top four teams after the next qualifier and having a double elimination style playoff. You’ll notice that this puts people like Jess and Marino in a position where they have to decide who they will try to make it with as they have played with multiple partners and done well,” he said.

Cramer also noted that several teams who competed in the previous qualifiers aren’t eligible because of the seven-year residency requirement.

“This means that a team with two eligible players that does well in the final qualifier can make it to the final four. Which puts a lot of weight on that qualifier and makes this all so exciting—don’t you think?”

Johnson is currently tied with Berline as the top individuals in the standings with 33 points apiece, while Pungilug is in third with 30. Rengaelur is one point behind with 29, followed by Palacios (28), Westphal (24), Castro (24), and Taula Peter (22) to round out the Top 10.

NMIVA already adopted the same format for the women’s tournaments, and will pick from the top four teams following the completion of their next qualifier at the PIC on Saturday, Feb. 4. Just like all of the tournaments, both the men’s and women’s registration starts at 9am followed by the first games at 9:45am.

The fee for the two-on-two action is $5 for NMIVA members and $10 for all others.

For more info, contact Peter at 322-9263 and taulap@gmail.com or NMIVA head coach Nan Intharaluk at 235-6231 ext. 5147.