Second NMIVA qualifier in the books

The second qualifier hosted by the Northern Mariana Islands Volleyball Association in preparation for next summer’s Micronesian Games is already in the books as 13 teams made their push on the sands of the Hyatt Regency Saipan over the weekend.

Taking top honors was the dynamic duo of Stephanie Arnold and Jasmine Anastacio in the eight-team women’s field, while the one-two punch of K.C. Rengular and Quincy Johnson were the best in the five-team men’s division.

Arnold and Anastacio had their hands full Sunday after fighting back from the losers’ bracket and beating Melissa Halaby and Lena Guzman twice to reign supreme.

Arnold and Anastacio got off on the right foot by winning their first two matches before falling to the losers’ bracket. Halaby and Guzman were credited with beating the two in a down-the-wire bout, 21-19.

With the win, Halaby and Guzman earned the first finals ticket of the day. The loss dropped Anastacio and Arnold to the losers’ bracket finals, where they faced veterans Benny Mettao and Sia Dela Cruz.

Mettao and Dela Cruz had a long day after opening with a 14-21 loss to Becky Covarrubia and Rika Matsumoto.

The two, however, came back strong to win three straight matches, then got sweet revenge by beating Covarrubia and Matsumoto, 21-16, to earn the right to face Anastacio and Arnold.

With momentum on their corner, Mettao and Dela Cruz had early control and broke out to a 12-6 lead. Anastacio and Arnold, however, refused to throw in the towel and continued to fight, eventually knotting the game at 20-20 before earning a rematch with Halaby and Guzman with a 22-20 victory.

Like their first battle, the two young pairs were again engaged in a neck-and-neck fight as neither team allowed the other to break away.

Halaby and Guzman had the early lead, 10-7, but it was soon erased as Anastacio and Arnold responded and finally pulled even at 13-13. The teams traded points from then on, and with the score knotted at 19-19, Anastacio and Arnold finally pulled ahead, 20-19. A long serve by Arnold leveled the score again, but the next two points belonged to Anastacio and Arnold for a 22-20 win, forcing a do-or-die 15-point set.

Anastacio and Arnold were on a roll and took a 6-2 lead, but Halaby and Guzman weren’t giving up and retaliated with a 3-0 run to pull within a point, 5-6. Anastacio and Arnold went on to stretch their lead again after scoring the next four points—including a kill and an ace from Anastacio.

Down 6-12, Halaby and Guzman fought back to cut the lead, 9-13, but Anastacio and Arnold were able to win two straight long rallies to close out the win.

For their part, Rengular and Johnson were on top of their game Saturday and fought their way to the finals where they defeated Andrew Ortega and Jess Palacios, 21-16.

Ortega and Palacios earned their finals ticket after pulling the right strings in the clutch for a 21-19 victory over Faheem Ebrahim and Steve Nyugen.

Nyugen and Ebrahim had also just pulled off a nerve-wracking performance with a 23-21 thriller over Randy Steel and Bruce Berline. Also competing were Rob Epley and Dale Roberts.