BTG, All About That Ace triumph

A BTG player goes up for a spike during the first set of their game against Holy Sett in the 2017 Micronesian Baseball Classic Fundraising Volleyball Tournament last Saturday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

All About that Ace and BTG swept their games in the 2017 Micronesian Baseball Classic Fundraising Volleyball Tournament to rule the weekend competition held at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

BTG completed its domination in the men’s division contest after beating Holy Sett in Game 1 of the finals last Sunday, 25-9, 25-17.

Zalaka, Blue Blood, and The Boys were the other teams entered in the men’s division and they played in a round-robin format last Saturday to determine the rankings in the playoffs. BTG ended up undefeated in four games in the preliminary to get the top seeding, while Holy Sett and The Boys had similar 2-2 cards with the latter winning the tiebreak and getting the No. 2 seed. Blue Blood and Halaka also earned identical records (1-3), but the former prevailed in the tiebreak to place No. 4, going into the playoffs.

A double-elimination format was implemented in the playoff round with the top-ranked BTG getting a bye in the opener last Sunday. BTG then faced Holy Sett in the quarterfinals and took the victory to arrange a semis duel against Zalaka. Holy Sett downed The Boys to set meet BTG in the next round, while Zalaka beat Blue Blood to arrange a battle with the eventually champion for the first finals berth.

BTG went on to keep its streak and edged Zalaka to get the finals ticket in the winner’s bracket, while the four other teams dropped to the loser’s pool and fought for the remaining finals seat.

The Boys and Blue Blood were the first one to collide in a make-or-break game with the former keeping its finals hopes alive after eliminating the latter. The Boys was then pitted against Holy Sett and the eventual runner-up survived to duel Zalaka for the final ticket to the championship game. Holy Sett went on to get a second crack at BTG after ousting Zalaka and was pressed to win twice in the finals to upset its favored foe. However, a well-rested BTG came out strong right in Game 1 to end Holy Sett’s hopes.

In other results, All About That Ace duplicated BTG’s feat by going undefeated in the women’s division.

All About That Ace got a 3-0 record in the round-robin games last Sunday, downing Mix Blood, Block & Roll, and Talaabwogh. The eventual champion was then seeded first in the playoffs, while Block & Roll (2-1), Talaabwogh (1-2), and Mix Blood (0-3) finished No. 2 to 4, respectively.

All About That Ace prevailed against Mix Blood in the semis to march into the finals against Block & Roll prevailed, which knocked out Talaabwogh. In the winner-take-all finale, All About That Ace outclassed Block & Roll, 25-19, 25-23.

Meanwhile, the Saipan Baseball League, which is in charge of sending the CNMI National Team to the MBC that will be held in Palau from June 23 to July 3, will hold another fundraiser this month.

The 2017 MBC Fundraising Softball Tournament will run from May 11 to 13 at the Capitol Hill Ballfield and is open to the first co-ed 10 teams that will register and pay the $100 entrance fees.

For more information, contact Boom Castro at 287-2666/ 234-6672 or Jesus Iguel at 783-2232.